Our Lady of the Seeds: An important Marian site in the Eastern Church

The monastery of Our Lady of the Seeds – Dair Al-Sayida – is located in Alqosh, north of Mosul in Iraq, at the modern-day borders between Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey and Iran. It is often referred to as the “Plain monastery,” in opposition to the “Mountain Monastery,” Rabban Hormizd Monastery, overlooking the valley, nestled in the mountain. Both monastic sites are very close to each other and are in seeing distance.

The monastery was completed in 1858. It had been built upon request of the Chaldean Patriarch Joseph VI Audo (1847-1878), who needed a place to move the monks of the very ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery, into a more appropriate place, more modern, more adapted and more secure.

The abbey church is a real architectural gem. The famous city of Alqosh, renowned for its copyists, calligraphers, writers and poets, who all wrote numerous works and manuscripts, lacked a great monastery with a modern, safe and functional library.

Adapted from Mesopotamia Heritage