2nd Kurdistan Road Trip - Part I

Friday Morning, July 20,2012, Our group of expats were taken on a road trip to northern Kurdistan. The expats number 27. 14 are from the DFW area of North Texas, 2 are from Ottawa, Canada, and the rest are from different parts of the USA.  Many are Benedictine College current students or recent grads. The Helmes family make up half of the 14 North Texans.

Our 1st destination was about  a 2 1/2 hour drive northwest from Erbil/Ankawa. This was the ancient Syriac Orthodox Monastery of Mar Matta ( Saint Matthew).  Mar Matta was a Syrian hermit who founded the monastery and was its 1st abbot. This monastery was founded around 360 A.D. by Mar Matta.  We spent about 2 hours there.  Soon after we arrived there we gathered in the church for a few minutes of silence.  Then we prayed together for Brenda Lenzen (Matt's mom) who was having surgery that day back in the states. 

This place was just so incredible.  Along with being a functioning Syriac Orthodox monastery, it is also used as a retreat center for individuals and for families as it has about 100 rooms.  The monastery is well up the side of mount Alfaf and overlooks the Nineveh plains of northern Iraq.

I have provided a link for you if you wish to find out more about this remarkable monastery of the early eastern church:  Monastery of Mar Matta .

I also have some pictures that I took for your viewing pleasure:


Kathy & I in the Receiving Room

A view of the altar in the church at Mar Matta.



The receiving Room at Mar Matta.

A view of the ancient ruins of the early monastery.

More of the ancient ruins.

Kathy inside the chapel of the ancient ruins.

From the ancient ruins, looking out over the Nineveh Plains.

From the inner courtyard of the present monastery, looking up at some of the ancient ruins.

A view of the inner court taken from near the front door of the church.

Looking through the arch, one can see the Nineveh Plains far below us.

A view from the parking lot of the face of Mar Matta Monastery.

Our excursion did not end here at Mar Matta.  There were other ancient and holy sites that lay waiting for us.  However, I will write about them and post more pictures in my next blog.