Finding the oldest monastery in Sulaymaniyah, the second largest city in Iraqi Kurdistan, can become quite exhausting owing to the fact that it is located in the heart of the city amidst intricate and narrow alleys in the historic Sabunkaran neighborhood. But upon arrival at the destination, it becomes evident that the remarkable Deir Maryam al-Adhra (Virgin Mary) monastery captures attention with its captivating allure and renovated appearance. The presence of a prominent, large cross reaffirms the visitor’s certainty that they have indeed reached the right place.

Entering the building is quite something else; there are children, teenagers, and young people involved in a range of activities. It is a church not like any other in a Muslim-majority city. Deir Maryam Al-Adhra holds events, conferences, and educational activities for all different ages with all religions and denominations: Christians, Muslims, and Yazidis are all present without any religious discrimination.

“There is something important here: no one talks about religion, and there are no religious discriminations whatsoever,” said Marwa Nuri, a student participating in an English course at the church.

Marwa, 30, is a Muslim who has been going to the monastery for over a year now. She expressed her joy about her time spent at the Deir Maryam al-Adhra while reiterating that “no one in the church’s administration likes to talk about religions because there are people who come from different backgrounds, and they don’t want them to think that they are somehow being lured to convert to Christianity.”

This is one of the main missions of the monastery following 2012 when it became a monastery church for the Al-Khalil community, a community who promotes closer relations between Christians and Muslims.

The monastery was almost abandoned before that, but after 2012 several peace and coexistence initiatives emerged following the monastery’s integration into the Al-Khalil community, which was founded by the Italian Jesuit Paolo Dall’Oglio in 1991 in Syria. Father Dall’Oglio was kidnapped in 2013 in Raqqa, Syria and is still missing.

“Here we have organizational activities and we launch initiatives, mainly in education, focusing on teaching English, Arabic, and Kurdish languages so that we can facilitate communication between Arabs, Kurds, and other ethnicities with different religions,” said Nejah Ahmed Emam, assistant to Father Jens, the minister of the monastery.

The monastery only receives a limited entry fee for its language courses compared to institutions that provide the same training in Sulaymaniyah.

“We only pay 15,000 Iraqi Dinars ($12) for a language course while I have friends from other famous institution who paid $400-$600 for the same amount of study,” Marwa said. “It’s not about money. I have learned more here than my friends who have paid that much. Our teachers are magnificent and respect us a lot while being very friendly,” she added.

Emam, who is also the head of the Al-Khalil project and a Muslim, explained that the idea became concrete and effectively took shape after 2014, when ISIS took over large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria.

“When ISIS came, so many refugees from Iraq and Syria fled to cities in the Kurdistan region and some of them came here to Sulaymaniyah. So, we thought that to ease communication between them, we should launch language courses, and the other goal was to create an understanding and coexistence between Christians and others from other religions, namely Islam,” she added.

Most who sought refuge in the church were Chaldean Christians and, from 2014 to 2017, the church managed to support and offer hospitality to more than 250 Christians, divided across more than 50 families.

Many of them have now either sought asylum abroad, returned home, or moved to other parts of the Kurdistan region, but a small portion still remains in Sulaymaniyah.

According to data provided by the church, nearly two to three thousand Christians live in the city now, which is a small portion of the whole population spread across the region that numbers around 300,000.

Most of the Christian community in Iraq now lives in the region, as they feel safer compared to cities in Iraq. The community in Iraq is divided into fourteen sects, with Chaldean being the majority at over 80%.

According to the U.S. State Department's annual report about freedom of religion in Iraq, minorities including Christians have more freedom of religion in the Kurdistan region than they do in Iraq.

Diana Khalid, a 17-year-old Christian working in the church, said that she and her family came to Sulaymaniyah after 2014 and felt safe and secure.

“After 2014, we relocated to Ankawa in Erbil... And then we came to Sulaymaniyah, where we feel safe and have no problems regarding our religion. The people in Sulaymaniyah respect minorities and treat us normally,” said Diana.

Abdelmassih Yousef, another Christian who has been working as a communications officer in the church for almost 30 years, reiterated that they have seen no religious discrimination, but sometimes the government can create obstacles for their activities.

“The people of Sulaymaniyah are very kind and mindful about religions and don’t discriminate, but the governorate interferes in our work, saying that we have to obtain confirmation from the security forces and Ministry of Education when holding even a small event or a course for people, especially refugees and displaced people,” Yousef Added.

The monastery encompasses a variety of structures and facilities, blending both ancient and contemporary elements, all interconnected by a cloister and passageway over three floors. It has a large prayer room, an adult library containing more than 500 books, a library for children, classrooms, and office rooms for employees.

“We gather in the prayer room to do our praying on Fridays and also on Sundays. The number is close to seven to ten people, but on ceremonial days, more people come here to pray,” said Khdir Yaqoob, a receptionist in the church.

The church was built in 1862 when the Christian population in Sulaymaniyah grew gradually to more than one hundred families. It was built by Christian philanthropists headed by Al-Shamas Yalda, a Christian businessman originally from Sanandaj, Iran. He was the father-in-law of Karim Alaka, a well-known public figure and also a businessman in Sulaymaniyah back then.

Kakalaw Abdulla, an independent journalist residing in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, has made significant contributions to numerous local and international media platforms. He specializes in reporting on political, economic, and social matters within the Kurdistan region.