On the south side of the Tur Abdin looking out towards Nusaybin stands the remote Syrian Orthodox monastery of Mor Yakup (St Jacob the Teacher), rebuilt in the 2000s after it had been left to fall into ruins. It’s near the village of Dibek (Hadibe). The monastery dates back to 1172 but the current building, reusing some of the stones from the original building, only reopened in 2013. It offers spectacular views down through a gorge to the plains stretching to Syria and across to Mor Malke. In 2015 when I visited it was home to just one monk-priest.
Transport info
There are no dolmuşes to Mor Yakup. Without your own car you will need to hire a taxi in Midyat or Nusaybin, ideally incorporating visits to other nearby churches or Mor Malke into the same trip.
