It is located near the very ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery and has housed numerous important manuscripts.

[2][4] Alqosh, located 28 miles north of Mosul, has been a stronghold of the Church of the East in the Nineveh Plains of Upper Mesopotamia, Iraq.

The ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery was founded about 640 AD, carved out in the mountains about 2 miles from Alqosh.

The geographical location of the monastery on the hills of Alqosh, made it extremely prone to attacks from invaders and nomadic tribesmen.

A commemorative plaque in the new monastery mentions that the expense of its construction was borne by Elīsha, the superior-general, and Benedict Planchet, the apostolic delegate in Mesopotamia.