Cathedral Hill

Cathedral Hill (Iradi: Chirköö Döbösü) is a spur above the east bank of the Naryn River in Iyık Janyl, rising about 150 metres above the river to about 800 metres. It carries the city's old town and the cathedral precinct of the Syro-Iradi Catholic Church, with the Church of St. Janyl, the mother church of the Iradi faith, and is the country's main place of pilgrimage.^[1]

Geography

Most of Iyık Janyl lies on the broad flats west of the Naryn. The east bank holds the quarters below and around the hill and, upriver, the summer quarter of Shahr-i Khunuk. State Route 1 runs through the city along the east bank, and the Cathedral Hill road, about 4 km long, leaves it and winds up to the precinct. From the top the hill looks across the river to the Kara-Khanid citadel of Diz-i Safid and the Lower Town. The unplanned settlement of Chong-Say, one of the quarters of Jogorku, fills a side ravine to the east, and the motherhouse of the Order of St. Janyl the Hermit stands on the edge of the Naryn gorge below the hill, south of the city.^[1][2]

History

The church was founded on the hill in 1727 under a charter of Abd al-Rahim Biy of Kokand and consecrated in 1730, and a settlement of clergy, craftsmen and herders grew up around it; the cathedral library dates from 1732.^[3] In 1937 the church was closed and its bells broken up for metal. For the rest of the Soviet period older women of the town kept the custom of climbing the hill at the old hours of prayer, an image taken up in Iradi writing (see Bells of Saint Janyl).^[4] After the Winter Uprising of 1992 the cathedral was returned to the church and reconsecrated on 14 September 1992, and the seminary reopened in 1994.^[3]

The precinct

Besides the cathedral, with its 22-metre turquoise-tiled dome, the precinct holds the Iyık Janyl Monastic Cloister, the Cathedral Seminary of Iyık Janyl (the St. Ephrem Major Seminary) and its library, the Iyık Janyl Diocesan Archives Vault and the Iyık Janyl Pilgrimage Hostel. The Irad Palace of Art occupies a former district House of Culture at 4 Cathedral Street, opposite the cathedral park.^[1][5] Below the hill about twelve guesthouses stand among shops selling icons and candles (shamdal jana ikona), souvenirs, felt, saddles and leather.^[2]

Under an informal understanding reached during the 2007 ceasefire talks, armed units of the Republican Gendarmerie of Irad and the El-Choro Militias do not enter the precinct. The arrangement is not part of the Bishkek Ceasefire Agreement (2007), but the United Nations Mission in Irad monitors the crossings used by pilgrims from the tribal regions.^[6]

Feast of St. Janyl

At the Feast of St. Janyl on 24 August pilgrims from both sides of the Qara-Chik Demarcation Line converge on the hill, many of them on horseback. A candlelit procession on the evening of 23 August is followed by the archbishop's liturgy and the Blessing of the Herds, in which priests sprinkle spring water on horses and sheep assembled on the cathedral esplanade.^[7]

See also

• Iyık Janyl
• Church of St. Janyl
• Archbishopric of Iyık Janyl

References

1. ^ Talas State University Press (2013). Monuments of Talas: A Guide, with a supplement on Iyık Janyl. Talas.
2. ^ Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Irad (2023). Commercial Directory of Retail and Services. Talas.
3. ^ Archeparchy of Iyık Janyl (2011). Shrines and Pilgrimage Places of the Syro-Iradi Catholic Church. Iyık Janyl.
4. ^ Central Asian Cultural Studies Review (2017). 'Silent Bells: Sacred Space in Soviet Iyık Janyl.' Vol. 9, pp. 23–41.
5. ^ Irad Palace of Art (2026). Visitor Guide. Iyık Janyl.
6. ^ United Nations Mission in Irad (2019). Report on Confidence-Building Measures across the Qara-Chik Line. Talas.
7. ^ Talas Herald (25 August 2024). 'Pilgrims Ride to Cathedral Hill for the Feast of St. Janyl.' Talas.