Deir-el-Zaffaran the Saffron Monastery of the Monophysites was once the seat of their Syrian Patriarch - who, because of the harassment of the Christian minorities by the Turkish government, had long decamped to Damascus...
Deir az-Zafaran monastery was founded in 493 AD. The Roman fortress was converted into a monastery. In 793 AD the buildings were renovated after a period of decrease.
See:
- Horatio Southgate, Narrative of a visit to the Syrian [Jacobite] Church of Mesopotamia; with statements and reflections upon the present state of Christianity in Turkey, and the character and prospects of the Eastern Churches, New-York : Dana and Co. 1856, pp.194 ff.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mor_Hananyo_Monastery
- http://sor.cua.edu/ChMon/MardinDKurkmo/