St. Aphrem Cathedral

Striking Syriac Orthodox cathedral, centre of Sweden's largest Assyrian community

St. Aphrem Cathedral is the cathedral of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Södertälje and the seat of the Archdiocese of Scandinavia. It is an imposing building in a style that draws on traditional Syriac ecclesiastical architecture, and it stands as a visible symbol of Södertälje's large Assyrian and Syriac Christian community.

The community began arriving in the 1960s and 1970s, and Södertälje today has one of the highest concentrations of Assyrian and Syriac Christians in Europe. Walking around this part of the city — with its Syriac-language signs, restaurants, and cultural clubs — is a reminder that Swedish cities are far more layered than they first appear. The cathedral is generally open for visits outside of services.

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Södertälje has one of the largest concentrations of Assyrians and Syriacs outside the Middle East — a community that grew from a small handful of immigrants in the 1960s to more than 25,000 people today. They came fleeing persecution in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. The cathedral, consecrated in 1993, is the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Scandinavia and one of the most architecturally ambitious churches built in Sweden in the 20th century.