Monastery of Saint John of Dailam

Naqortaya Monastery

Ruins of the monastery in the 1960s
Monastery information
Other names	ܕܝܪܐ ܢܩܘܪܬܝܐ
Established	7th century AD
Disestablished	19th century
Dedicated to	Mar Yoḥannan Daylamáyá
Diocese	Syriac Orthodox Diocese of Mosul
People
Founder(s)	Mar Yoḥannan Daylamáyá
Site
Location	Bakhdida, Nineveh Province, Iraq
Coordinates
Visible remains	the altar and a baptismal font
Public access	yes

Dayra d'Mar Yoḥannan Daylamáyá (Monastery of Saint John of Dailam) also known as Naqortaya and Muqurtaya (Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܢܩܘܪܬܝܐ‎ dayrá naqortáyá, literally "chiseled monastery"), is a Syriac Orthodox monastery that lies 3 km north of Bakhdida in Northern Iraq.

History

The monastery is traditionally attributed to Mar Yoḥannan Daylamáyá, who was active in the region in the 7th century and was responsible, according to an ahistorical legend, of converting its people from the Church of the East to the Syrian Orthodox Church. The oldest attested mention of the monastery dates back to the late 9th century. A Syriac manuscript mentions the consecration of the monastery in 1115. Bar Hebraeus records that the Kurds raided the monastery in 1261, burning it and killing its monks.

The monastery was rebuilt in 1563. The majority of the inhabitants of Bakhdida started converting to Catholicism in the 18th century; the monastery, however, remained under the control of the Syriac Orthodox Church but was left deserted. The monastery was again rebuilt in 1998.

John of Dailam feast

The Naqurtaya monastery is visited by thousands of Syriac Orthodox pilgrims from the Nineveh Plains region during the feast of Yoḥannan Daylamáyá the last Friday of March.