The Village

Derie is a village hidden in a deep valley 5km east of Amadia on the south side of Matina Mountain. It has many springs of clean water most suited for drinking and irrigation. It was described by a British vicar named Wigram, who visited north of Iraq in around 1800? In his book titled “Cradle of Humanity” as "A Christian village in Sapna Valley, the village has two thumbs, a priest and 8 families”. He had included an accurate hand drawn picture of it. According to 1957 census, the village comprised of 50 houses, 100 families and 323 individuals.

The Church

Viewed from outside, a large building of stone construction stood out in the village. This in fact comprised of 3 churches i.e. “Hicla(s)” adjacent to one another. The first being Mart Mariam, where a small entrance door faced south existed, the second was Mar Audisho and the third was Mar Gardagh. They all were inter-connected by a passage. Each Hicla consisted of a long narrow hall, with high arched stone ceiling and a tiny window. It is not known when this church was built first, but rumors say it was built in the 6 century by a Monk (Nun) named Okama from Komani village. It certainly appeared to have been very old building and was likely to have been of a big historical value.

The destruction

In 1961 the village and the church were bombed and destroyed by the Iraqi regime in its fight against the Kurdish rebels, who had spread in the area. This forced the villagers to flee, mainly to the cities in the south and some to overseas. Around 1984 some of them returned