The Mariamite Cathedral, seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch since 1342, stands on one of the oldest continuously used Christian worship sites in Damascus. Its origins trace back to the late Roman and early Byzantine periods, when a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary was first established along the ancient Straight Street. After the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, the building’s fate shifted — it was closed for decades until Caliph al Walid I, in 706 AD, returned it to the Christian community as part of an agreement when the nearby Church of Saint John was incorporated into the Umayyad Mosque. Over the centuries, the cathedral endured fires, earthquakes, and political upheavals, most notably the destruction of 1860 during sectarian violence, after which it was rebuilt in 1863. Subsequent restorations in the 20th century preserved its blend of Byzantine and Levantine architectural features, ensuring that the Mariamite Cathedral remains both a functioning place of worship and a living chronicle of Damascus’s layered religious history.