Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral, a Syriac Catholic cathedral, stands in the Karada district of Baghdad. A modest church was built on the site in 1952, and the cathedral opened on March 17, 1968. The 2011 renovation was decided by Archbishop Matti Shaba Matoka and designed by a Polish designer named Kafka, with the Romaya engineering agency.
The building is shaped like a boat, with a large cross as the mast and an arch-shaped sail, symbolizing a boat carrying worshippers. Wood paneling covers the interior pillars and walls, and a mosaic of the Coronation of Mary was made in the cupola in 1994.
A militant attack during Mass on October 31, 2010 killed dozens of people. The cathedral was reinaugurated on December 14, 2012, and Pope Francis visited on March 5, 2021.
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