Former Maronite Church of Mar Ilyas (later Print House)

[Picture source: © 1993 Jean-Claude David]

A Maronite presence in Aleppo may go back at least to the year 1489, as indicated by the Maronite bishop of Aleppo Jirmanus Farhat (1670-1732), in a comment on a manuscript preserved in the Maronite Library in Aleppo. The construction date of the original church, the forth of the churches’ square (bahat al-kanaʾis), dedicated to the Prophet Ilyas, is not easy to determine. Around 1500, this church did benefit from the donations by the Armenian benefactor ʿIsayi, like the church of the forty martyrs. Della Valle notes in 1625 that it was the smallest among the churches in Judayda, indicating also the small size of the Maronite community at that time. On the other hand, it was the only “Catholic” church at that time and, in addition to the Maronites, it was used by the whole Catholic population of Aleppo, including the European orders (Jesuits, Franciscans, Carmelites and Capuchins). In 1671, an adjacent house to the west was bought to enlarge the church. A few years later, with the help of the French ambassador in Constantinople, who intervened at the Porte, official permission was obtained and the church was enlarged to the west by tearing down the wall separating the two buildings.[1] The eminent theologian, archbishop of Aleppo and founder of the Maronite Library (al-maktaba al-maruniyya) with its important manuscript collection, Jirmanus Farhat, was buried in this church, like a number of other clergy after him.[2]  

In 1857, the Maronite print house (al-matbaʿa al-maruniyya) was founded as the first permanent printing press in Aleppo. After the inauguration of the new Maronite cathedral, it was installed in the old church.[3]