Bedaro is a village that lies to
the south of the City of Zakho on Khabour River, next to the Iraqi–Turkish borders. The
name's origin is Syriac and it means a ''battle place''. It has a very fertile land and its inhabitants used
to plant different crops in ancient times.
The village is well-known for its
religious monuments such as Jesus’s Heart Church that was built on the ruins of
an old church and another church that lies to the south of the village known as
Mart Shmooni which used to be the archbishopric house before it was moved to Zakho
during the time of bishop Mar Temathaeus.
In the fifties of the last
century the number of families that used to live in the village reach 120, but
the inhabitants were forced into to leave the area due to bad living conditions and the continuous attacks by the Iraqi army as part of the Baath Arabization policy. In 1975, the village was turned into a military base.
Today Bedaro has come to life again
following the construction of 70 houses, a project funded by the Hezel Foundation and Sarkis Aghajan. A big hall has been built for
celebrations and the church has been renovated. The streets were
paved and the village was linked to a new national power supply grid. A new
water supply system was supplied following the digging up of a water
well. Moreover, a two story school was built with a hall for church
celebrations as well as two playing grounds for football and basket ball and were provided by the required accessories.
|