Saint Elias Cathedral, Maronite cathedral in Jdeydeh quarter, Aleppo, Syria.
Saint Elias Cathedral is a Maronite cathedral in the Jdeydeh quarter of Aleppo, Syria, with a facade flanked by two bell towers and a central dome rising above the roofline. Yellow marble columns frame the main entrance, and the interior follows a traditional Latin-rite layout with a wide nave leading to the altar.
The current building was erected in 1873, replacing an older Maronite sanctuary from the 15th century. A major renovation around 1914 introduced concrete construction methods that were still new in Aleppo at the time.
The cathedral stands in the Jdeydeh quarter, where churches, old houses, and small courtyards sit close together in a compact neighborhood. Walking around it gives a clear sense of how religious life and everyday life have long shared the same streets.
The cathedral is easy to reach on foot from the center of the Jdeydeh quarter, where the streets are narrow and best explored slowly. Visiting outside of service times gives you more room to look around the building and its interior without interruption.
A statue of Archbishop Germanos Farhat, erected in 1932, stands in the square just in front of the cathedral. Farhat was not only a church leader but also a poet and grammarian whose work helped shape the study of Arabic language in his time.
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