Church of the East

The Church of the East (Syriac: ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ‎ ʿĒ(d)tāʾ d-Maḏn(ə)ḥāʾ), also known as the Nestorian Church, is a Christian church within the Syriac tradition of Eastern Christianity. It was the Christian church of the Sasanian Empire, and quickly spread widely through Asia. Between the 9th and 14th centuries it represented the world's largest Christian church in terms of geographical extent, with dioceses stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to China and India. Several modern churches claim continuity with the historical Church of the East.

The Church of the East was headed by the Patriarch of the East, continuing a line that, according to tradition, stretched back to the Apostolic Age. Liturgically, the church adhered to the East Syrian Rite, and theologically, it adopted the doctrine of Nestorianism, which emphasizes the distinctness of the divine and human natures of Jesus. This doctrine and its namesake, Nestorius (386–451), were condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431, leading to the Nestorian Schism and a subsequent exodus of Nestorius' supporters to Sasanian Persia. The existing Christians in Persia welcomed these refugees and gradually adopted Nestorian doctrine by the 5th century, leading the Church of Persia to be known alternately as the Nestorian Church.

Church of the East (disambiguation)

The Church of the East, or Nestorian Church, is a Christian church that formerly spread widely across Asia.

Church of the East may also refer to:

See also

Nestorian Church (Famagusta)

The Nestorian Church (Turkish: Nasturi Kilisesi), officially known as the Church of St. George the Exiler (Greek: Ο Άγιος Γεώργιος ο Εξορινός, Turkish: Ay İkserino Kilisesi) is a church in the old town of Famagusta, Cyprus. Originally built as a church belonging to the Church of the East (Nestorian Church), it was converted to a Greek Orthodox Church in the British era after centuries of use as a stable for camels in the Ottoman era. It is one of the legendary "365 churches of Famagusta".

Location

The church lies in the western areas of the old city of Famagusta within the walls. It lies to the southeast of St. Anne's Church, in the area that was inhabited by Syriacs in the Lusignan era. Opposite the church stands the house built for the priest in the British period.

History

Chroniclers Leontios Machairas and Diomede Strambaldi wrote that the church had been built by the Lakhas brothers (also known as Lakhanopoulos) in around 1360. These brothers were recorded as two "East Syrian", aka Nestorian merchants, who were known for their immense wealth. The chroniclers pointed out to the architecture and decorations of the building, reminiscent of the Southern French and Italian Gothic churches of the time, hypothesizing that it may have been influenced by King Peter I's visit to Avignon in 1363. This version of the church's history represents the virtual consensus of scholars of medieval Famagusta, though scholar Michele Bacci has postulated a need to revise "name-identification and date of this church" as its architecture is reminiscent of the 12th–13th century Crusader architecture in Palestine and Syria. A historian of medieval Famagusta, Joseph Yacoub, has written that this must be the church mentioned as "Mart Maryam" in a 1581 letter written by the Nestorian Metropolite of Amid.