- Church of the Virgin Mary:
The church was built in the Suq Al-Shajara neighborhood – Al-Aqaba (the Jacobite quarter) in 1837, oriented longitudinally towards the north, with an area of 60 square meters. It was constructed with stones of various colors and shapes due to the poverty and conflict at that time concerning the shared church where both the Syriacs and Greeks prayed in Hama.
In 1891, the devout Mary Al-Akkawi donated a quarter of her house adjacent to the church. In 1895, Ezra bin Samaan Al-Aqraa sold his neighboring house to the church. The church also owned a small piece of land. On these properties, the Syriacs built their current church in 1914, with an estimated area of 200 square meters, through the efforts of brothers Moussa and Tamer Nazha. They covered its walls with lime and fiber and roofed it with a magnificent wooden and tiled roof in the shape of a pyramid, which many houses in the neighborhood were known for. The church’s walls were surrounded with tin plates inscribed with verses from the wisdom books and the Beatitudes and teachings of Jesus Christ.
In 1914, the devout Ibrahim bin Shukri dedicated three-quarters of his shop to the church, and the devout Deacon Gabriel bin Ibrahim donated his entire shop to the church. In 1950, the community bought a basement adjacent to the church and turned it into a club and headquarters for the Scout group. They also added a neighboring house to the church’s property, which was later converted into a house for the parish priest.
In 1904, the community had an elementary school next to the church, but it did not receive official licensing until 1935. The school then began expanding, reaching seven classrooms and improving spiritually, academically, and culturally, especially after 1961, thanks to the efforts of the church council, Father Saliba Issa Soumi, the school administration, and the school committee members.
In 1956, the Women’s Mercy Association paved the church courtyard with square tiles and built a loft overlooking the courtyard. In 1985, due to the deterioration of some of the church’s roof tiles, the community replaced the pyramid-shaped tiled roof with a flat, reinforced concrete roof, and the tin plates were removed. In January 2005, due to moisture seeping into the church walls, the wall coverings were removed to reveal and restore the old stone, along with the classrooms and annexes. The church was rededicated on the Feast of the Annunciation in 2006. This complex remained a center for education and for the gatherings of brotherhoods and associations until 2011. Due to the events, these institutions were moved to the Mar Jacob of Sarug complex and church in the Sheikh Anbar neighborhood.
- Church of Mar Jacob of Sarug:
Built in the Sheikh Anbar neighborhood after most of the parish families moved there from the old Suq Al-Shajara neighborhood. The complex includes a hall for events and celebrations and classrooms for education. Construction began in 1991 during the tenure of the late Bishop Barnabas and was completed on March 9, 2003, during the tenure of the late Patriarch Zakka I Iwas and the late Bishop Silvanus Peter Al-Nehmeh. This church hosts a number of active church institutions, including the church council, the Christian Education Center for all educational stages, the women’s brotherhood, and the choir group.