Day 1 — Baghdad
The Meskenta Armenian Church, in the old quarter since the 1600s, is the oldest surviving church in the capital. At St Joseph’s Chaldean Cathedral you sit in the mother church of the Chaldean rite, whose patriarch still carries the title Patriarch of Babylon. Our Lady of Salvation is the seat of the Syriac Catholic community in Baghdad and the most moving stop of the day. Close at St George’s, the only Anglican church in Iraq.
Day 2 — Ctesiphon, Babylon and Borsippa
The great brick arch of Taq Kasra marks Seleucia-Ctesiphon, seat of the Church of the East and the place where, in 410 AD, it organised itself as an independent church. Every congregation you meet this week traces back to this riverbank. Then Babylon: the Ishtar Gate, the Processional Way and the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, city of Daniel and the exile. Finish at Borsippa, the ziggurat long identified with the Tower of Babel.
Day 3 — South to Basra
Drive the length of Mesopotamia to the old Gulf port, where Armenian, Chaldean and Latin merchant families built their churches. Visit the Armenian Church of the Virgin Mary, founded 1736, its bell cast in 1907; the Chaldean Cathedral, seat of a diocese recorded here in the 3rd century; and Sacred Heart Church of 1913. Walk Church Street in Al-Jumhuriya, named for the parish that still stands on it.
Day 4 — Al-Qurna, the Marshes and Ur
At Al-Qurna the Tigris and Euphrates join, where tradition places the Garden of Eden; Adam’s Tree marks the spot. Continue into the Mesopotamian Marshes, a UNESCO World Heritage site, for a boat ride among the reed islands and mudhif houses. Then the Ziggurat of Ur, the towering stepped temple of the moon god, beside the house traditionally shown as the birthplace of Abraham. Drive on to Baghdad.
Day 5 — North to Mar Behnam
Travel up the Tigris corridor to the Monastery of Mar Behnam and Mart Sarah, founded in the 4th century over the tomb of Behnam and his sister Sarah, children of an Assyrian king. Its 12th-century Syriac carving — interlaced crosses, angels and inscriptions in three scripts — is the finest stonework of its kind in Mesopotamia. Overnight Mosul.
Day 6 — Mosul
Enter the historic churches of the Old City: Al-Tahera of 1862, Al-Saa’a with its clock given by the Empress Eugénie, and Mar Toma with its 13th-century marble Door of the Twelve Apostles. Visit the shrine of the Prophet Jonah above ancient Nineveh. In the afternoon climb Mount Alfaf to Mar Mattai, founded in 363 AD and still inhabited, with the whole plain below.
Day 7 — The Nineveh Plains and Alqosh
Mart Shmoni at Bartella, then Qaraqosh, Iraq’s largest church. Continue through Karamlesh to Alqosh and the cliff monastery of Rabban Hormizd, cut into the rock in the 7th century. On to Duhok.
Day 8 — Sapna Valley
Araden, whose name means Garden of Eden, holds churches founded in the 4th century. Visit Amadiya, walled on its mountain, then transfer to Erbil for departure.
