Church of Saint Thaddeus
- UNESCO World Heritage
Interesting facts
- The earthquake of 1319 that wrecked the monastery is said to have killed 75 of its monks.
- Mongol armies damaged the monastery twice in the 13th century, first in 1231 and again in 1242.
- Besides the tradition of a first church in AD 66, another account credits its founding to Saint Gregory the Illuminator in AD 239.
- According to Armenian tradition, the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew travelled through Armenia together around AD 45, founding secret Christian communities.
- According to legend, Princess Sandokht, a king's daughter converted by Thaddeus, was martyred with him, and her tomb is said to lie near the monastery.
- The large western extension of the 19th century was built under the monastery's father superior, Simeon.
- The annual pilgrimage was nominated to UNESCO jointly by Iran and Armenia, and the committee approved it unanimously.
- Many Armenian families bring their children to be baptised at the monastery during the July pilgrimage, which is one of the few officially recognised Christian events in Iran.
Why it is worth it
The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus, known locally as Qara Kelisa, the "black church", stands alone in the bare uplands of Iran's West Azerbaijan province, about 20 km from the town of Chaldiran in the far north-west of the country. Its pointed Armenian drums and cones can be seen from far across the valley. In 2008 it was inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran, together with the Monastery of Saint Stepanos and the Chapel of Dzordzor.
According to the tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the apostle Thaddeus preached in Armenia and was martyred there in the first century, and a church was raised over his grave; some traditions put its founding as early as AD 66. Those dates are legend rather than record. The monastery suffered in the Mongol invasions of the 13th century and was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1319; only parts of the east end, around the altar apse, are thought to go back to the 7th century.
That history is written in the masonry. The oldest parts, at the east end, are built of black and white stone, and the dark masonry gave the church its local name. The large western extension, added from 1811 with support from the Qajar crown prince Abbas Mirza, is of cut ashlar and deliberately echoes Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the mother church of the Armenian faith.
For most of the year the monastery is a quiet museum site. Each July it comes alive with the Pilgrimage of Saint Thaddeus, when Armenians from Iran and abroad gather for several days of services; UNESCO added the pilgrimage to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2020.
Getting there
The monastery is about 20 km from Chaldiran (Siah Cheshmeh) in the south of Maku county. The nearest Iranian airport is Urmia (OMH), about 165 km away; closer airports at Nakhchivan, Iğdır and Yerevan lie across international borders. There is no regular public transport to the site: visitors usually come by car or taxi from Maku or Urmia, and the mountain roads are easiest from late spring to early autumn.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus is an Armenian monastery in a mountainous area of West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Although much of the present structure was erected by Crown Prince Abbas Mirza in 1811, the monastery is one of the oldest church buildings in the world.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
39.09222, 44.54444per Wikidata