Mar Matti Monastery (Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܡܬܝ Saint Matthew's Monastery,Arabic,دير مار متى) is located atop Mount Maqloub in northern Iraq. About 20 kilometers from Mosul, Mar Matti was founded in AD 363 by a Syriac Christian called Matti (Syriac for Matthew) who was fleeing persecution from Diyarbakır to nearby Nineveh in Asuristan (Assyria.) Matti joined a mostly Nestorian population that had a small Syrian community already located atop Mt. Maqloub. Under his leadership, that community developed a true monastic ethos. It is today recognized as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence. It is further noted for a considerable collection of Syriac Christian manuscripts.