Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa

Our Lady of Tortosa is a former Church of the Crusaders and the cathedral of Tartus in Syria. It is considered the best-preserved religious building of the crusaders time.

History

The cathedral was built on the site of a Byzantine pilgrimage site. It was a St. Mary consecrated early Christian monastery. According to legend, this place is said to have been consecrated by the holy Apostle Peter himself. The construction of the cathedral in the transitional style from Romanesque to Gothic in what was then known as Tortosa town was started in the second quarter of the 12th century. The 1152 city ruling Templars represented the sacred building in the mid- 13th century ready. After the city was repeatedly threatened by the Mamluks, the Cathedral was also attached. Tortosa was finally the last still held by the Templars city in the Middle East. They eventually had to bow to the superior power and granted in 1291 the town. The cathedral was then converted into a mosque. Of this today still shows the minaret on the west facade. In the Ottoman period it was a horse stable. Today the former church houses the National Museum of Tartus.