Mar Mattei monastery | Tourist Attraction

November 7th, 2023 by marc

Stunning place.
Visited here during the day. Private taxi from Erbil to Bardarash (25.000 IQD / 16 USD), then taxi to Monastery (15.000 IQD / 10 USD).
People not at all welcoming. Very cold behavior towards visitors. Very arrogant. People in the reception hall are lying down and not even moving for questions.
Sleeping: No single male overnight guests allowed. Families (couples) are allowed to stay overnight.

Summary: expect a lot from the place but nothing from the people inside it.

May 19th, 2023 by bikeaway91

When I arrived in the evening, I was told, that it is not allowed anymore to stay there overnight. They told me different reasons:

- I am traveling alone (the rooms are only for families)
- Other foreign guests made some trouble

I had the feeling, the people bishop, monks and employees were cold and repellent to me. In the end a local showed me around the place and invited me to his house nearby

January 25th, 2023 by lostwithpurpose.com

Massive old monastery on a mountaintop overlooking the valley. Beautiful and people living here are friendly. They have rooms that visitors can stay in with shared toilets, AC, and filtered water. Parking is secure, big rigs might have trouble making it up all of the very tight switchbacks to the parking lot.