IRBIL, Iraq — Kurdish police guarding the Sant Hormizd Monastery can see the Islamic State-held city of Mosul on a clear day.

On a typically hazy afternoon this week they could still see villages occupied by the extremists dotting the green expanse of lush pasture below their mountain perch.

The police are Assyrian Christians from the nearest town, Alqosh, which sits at the foot of a mountain range about 30 miles from Mosul.

They’re the only ones left at the monastery, which was founded by a Syriac monk, Rabban Hormizd, in 640 A.D. It was once home to precious Chaldean Christian manuscripts and dozens of monks living a Spartan existence in caves hollowed out of a massive rocky amphitheater.

To reach the caves, visitors must negotiate a series of hairpin turns on a steep road and then climb up hundreds of steps.

Beneath the monastery there are more caves with chambers where the monks once sought enlightenment. In one chamber, there’s a cross chiseled out of the wall. Locals say the monks used to close their eyes and walk the length of the chamber with one hand outstretched. If your hand touches the cross it’s supposed to be good luck.

robson.seth@stripes.com

Twitter: @SethRobson1

