Greek Orthodox Church of Our Lady (Virgin’s Dormition)
[Picture source: © 2009 Stefan Knost] [Picture source: © 2009 Stefan Knost] The city’s orthodox (Rum) community probably possessed a church at the south eastern part of the churches’ square (bahat al-kanaʿis) since at least the early-15th century. A marginal note from around 1500 in a manuscript preserved in the library in the Armenian Archbishopric informs us that the benefactor of the Armenian cathedral of the forty martyrs, ʿIsayi, also restored the churches of the Rum and Maronite communities. Interestingly, this source mentions the church being dedicated to St. George, indicating that the church’s dedication fluctuated over time or may have been multiply dedicated.[1]
In 1724, the Rum community split into an Orthodox branch and a Catholic one, affiliated with the Church of Rome. The Orthodox branch managed to maintain control over the old church; nevertheless, we may suppose that the communities' often-conflictual relationship prevented any major construction work during the 18th and early 19th centuries.
The earthquake of 1822 partly destroyed the church building. Reconstruction on a significantly larger scale started 1849 (incorporating the former Bayt Hassun) (Fig. 6).[2] Another setback was the destruction of the 1850 disturbances. Finally completed in 1861, the church is a rectangular building (35 by 22 metres) dominated by a central cupola which rests on four columns (Fig. 7) (Fig. 8). It contains a magnificent ebony wood iconostasis and a treasure of important icons - Greek and Russian, but particularly from the Aleppo school, including one of the Virgin’s Dormition (Fig. 9).[3]
Figure 6: Greek Orthodox Church, ground plan [Picture source: © 2017 Collection Museum for Islamic Art] 
