Mosul had a continuous Christian presence from the early centuries of the church. Between 6 and 7 August 2014 the towns of the Nineveh plain — Qaraqosh, the largest Christian town in Iraq, along with Bartella, Karamles and Bashiqa — were abandoned as Islamic State advanced, and the roads to Erbil and Dohuk filled overnight. Churches were burned and manuscript collections destroyed, though the Dominican friars had digitised a substantial archive beforehand and some collections were carried out. Qaraqosh was retaken in October 2016 and has been partly rebuilt and repopulated; Pope Francis prayed in its gutted cathedral in March 2021. The Chaldean, Syriac Catholic and Syriac Orthodox communities were all hit, and none has returned to its former size.