Why pilgrims come
A sacred place worth the journey.
A mountain monastery traditionally founded around the seventh century and carved into the cliffs above Alqosh. It became a major seat in the Church of the East and is inseparable from Chaldean Catholic history: its abbot Yohannan Sulaqa was consecrated in Rome in 1553 as the first patriarch of the emerging Chaldean Catholic line.
The pilgrim’s guide
What makes this visit meaningful
Climb into the intertwined history of the Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church, then pray at Rabban Hormizd’s tomb without forcing later ecclesial divisions backward onto every century.
The tomb of Rabban Hormizd
Meet a continuing Chaldean devotional tradition in the monastery’s oldest sacred core.
Yohannan Sulaqa and Rome
Connect the former abbot’s 1553 consecration with the formation of the Chaldean Catholic patriarchal line.
A monastery carved into endurance
Read caves, chapels, tombs, and defensive landscape together.
Feasts, anniversaries & celebrations
Continue nearby