Ankawa | Erbil's Christian District | Iraqi Kurdistan

Exploring Ankawa, Erbil's Christian district . 08/02/23. Iraqi Kurdistan

Ankawa (Arabic: عنكاوا, romanized: Ankāwā; Kurdish: عەنکاوە, romanized: Ankawa, Syriac: ܥܲܢܟܵܒ̣ܵܐ) is a suburb of Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is located 8 kilometres (5 mi) northwest of downtown Erbil. The suburb is predominantly populated by Assyrians, most of whom adhere to the Chaldean Catholic Church.

History

Ankawa originally called Beth Amka, which later morphed to Amku-Bad, Ankava, and finally Ankawa. The name of the town is mentioned in Bar Hebraeus's book entitled "A Brief History of the Countries," where he states: "Mongolian troops attacked the area of Erbil on Sunday July 1285 and reached some villages.....including Ankawa." The shrine of Mary also known as Mariamana was built after the ancient Roman designs. Tell Qasra, or Qasra Knoll, is an ancient archaeological site, a 6 meter high mound that was used as a palace in the center of Ankawa. The hill dates back to the Neo-Assyrian period. The city was formerly known as Arbela which was the capital city of Adiabene and the seat of Ishtar.

Ankawa has many archaeological sites, including "The Hill," which was recorded as an archaeological site in Iraq in 1945. It is also home to Cathedral of Saint Joseph (Umra d'Mar Yosip), the seat of the Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Arbil. Ankawa used to be a small village located northwest of Erbil, but has grown into a city in its own right. The city has recently become a principal settlement for Christians in Iraq. One of the main reasons for the town's population rise is due to the ISIS takeover of the Nineveh Plains in 2014 after KRG security forces forcibly disarmed local populations in the Nineveh Plains, asserting a full monopoly of arms and control over security, while pledging to protect all, and then pre-emptively retreated from their posts as ISIS approached, abandoning the local populations and exposing them to genocide, all without informing locals that they were withdrawing at the last minute and without firing a single bullet. This caused a fair amount of those who fled to come to Ankawa and other areas in the Kurdistan Region. The Assyrian Church of the East, which after several decades of being located in the United States, has decided to move their Patriarchal see to Ankawa.

Today

Within the last decade, Ankawa has developed rapidly educationally and technologically. Today, many tourists visit Ankawa from the capital Baghdad, and from other cities across Iraq. The suburb has been through a long construction period, and there are international schools as well as restaurants available today inside. After the fall of Mosul, many Christians who had been displaced came to Ankawa and have been provided with personal needs by the church and international organizations.

[Alcedooo]

Ankawa my city, God bless the people there. Thanks for your Video ♥️🙏

[RobbieTravels]

Lots of food and liquor, that is a place for you Mark! Great adventure in Iraqi Kurdistan.😉

[mafiaflores]

Terima kasih untuk Videonya Saudara, ini info yang menarik❤❤

[ial]

I love Kurdistan.💗.. from Indonesia Cristian ⛪

[AnonymousGUY]

Just to correct you, Ankawa was a Christian majority part of erbil for over 50 years, but in 2004-2004 (not sure) the president signed it as a Christian city where non-Christians wouldn’t be able to own a property nor building non-Christian worship places, yes many immigrants came here in 2014 but many went back ever since.

[Miraa.gamedev]

How do you like Kurdistan so far? Btw welcome

[RoselLazar]

Omg Ankawa is my city and dude you where rlly close to my house and you based it

[JwanJwan-xu]

Thanks for this vlog but come to. The. Old. City. We. Are all brother. I'm Muslim ❤😊

[simkomala]

If you drive to shaqlawa or pirmam you will a lot of people sitting along the roads and drink alcohol and make barbecue in the evening. It's normal in kurdistan

[TheObserversTV]

As an Assyrian its wild to me that foreigners such as Syrians migrate all the way to a traditional Assyrian town like Ankawa for business opportunities!

[MelvinMansoor]

These people are Chaldeans, not Assyrians. Majority of the city is occupied by Chaldeans who migrated from Nineveh due to ISIS. I was just in Ankawa. If you want to learn more about our people, please comment.