Eastern Orthodoxy In Azerbaijan
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Eastern Orthodoxy in Azerbaijan is the main
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
and the second largest religious group in the
Republic of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russi ...
(after
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
). According to statistics, the
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
, or
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
tradition in Azerbaijan is 2.3% (209.7 thousand people). The territory of Azerbaijan is in the jurisdiction of the Baku-Azerbaijan Diocese of the
Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
.


History of Eastern Orthodoxy in Azerbaijan

Serious changes in the Caucasian Albanian church occurred under the Arab rule, when the Catholicos Nerses I Bakur (688–704) attempted to convert to Chalcedonism, thus recognizing the spiritual authority of
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. He was deposed by the Grand Duke of Albania Shero and other feudal lords who remained faithful to the Albanian church, and cursed at the national church cathedral. In the second half of the 10th century, the population of the left-bank Albania (
Hereti The Kingdom of Hereti ( ka, ჰერეთის სამეფო, tr) was a medieval Albanian monarchy which emerged in Caucasus on the Iberian- Albanian frontier. Nowadays it roughly corresponds to the southeastern corner of Georgia's Kakh ...
) was included in the sphere of influence of the decision of the Chalcedon Council of the Georgian Church, adopted in the 7th century and got a great impact of Georgia. When the territories of
Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...
entered the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, jurisdiction of ''Georgian Exarchate'' was expanded, encompassing territories of modern-day
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
,
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
and
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
. In 1905, ''Eparchy of Baku'', nowadays ''Baku and Caspian Eparchy'', was established.Православие в Азербайджане / Православие.Ru
The Albanian Catholicos of the church in 1813 by the decree of
Tsar Nicholas I Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...
passed into the status of the metropolite of the Albanian church. Eastern Orthodoxy became wide spread in Azerbaijan at the beginning of the 19th century.


Eastern Orthodoxy in Azerbaijan nowadays

In 1815, the first Russian Orthodox church appeared in
Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
. Later such churches were built in
Ganja ''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: aːɲd͡ʒa ...
, Goranboy (Borisi-Russian village, 1842),
Shemakha Shamakhi (, ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Shamakhi District. The city's estimated population was 31,704. It is famous for its traditional dancers, the Shamakhi Dancers, and also for perhaps giving its name to th ...
(Alty-Aghadj village, 1834),
Lankaran Lankaran (, ) or Lánkon () is a city in Azerbaijan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, near the southern border with Iran. As of 2021, the city had a population of 89,300. It is next to, but independent of, Lankaran District. The city forms a disti ...
(Vel village, 1838), and Gedabek (Slavyanka village, 1844). There were 21 sectarian villages in Baku during 1868. In 1905, the Baku Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was established. During the Soviet era, the authorities repressed the priests of the Baku diocese, but in 1944 two churches were opened. In 1998, the Baku-Caspian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was established. On March 22, 2011, the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was changed to the Baku-Caspian diocese in Baku-Azerbaijan. In 2011 there were six Eastern Orthodox churches in the country. Five of them belong to the Russian Orthodox church (ROC): three of them are located in Baku one in Ganja and one in Khachmaz. Another temple belongs to the jurisdiction of the Georgian Orthodox Church - the Church of St. George in the village of Gakh-Inguila in the
Qakh district Qakh District (; ; ) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north of the country, in the Shaki-Zagatala Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Zagatala, Shaki, Samukh, Yevlakh, as well as the Kakheti re ...
, where the Ingiloy Georgians live compactly (about 7,500 people). In 2013, November, President
Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...
participated in the opening ceremony of Orthodox Religious and Cultural Center of Baku and Azerbaijan Eparchy. Firstly, The President visited the
Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral (; Azerbaijani: ''Müqəddəs Mürdaşıyan Zənənlər Başkilsəsi'') a local historical monument and church, built in 1909 in Baku, serves as the center of the Baku diocese. The church was included in the list of ...
. There is also the
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
Archangel's
Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
in the capital city Baku.


The Albanian-Udin Christian community

In 2001, during his visit to Azerbaijan, Patriarch Alexe II met with representatives of the Udin community who expressed the desire of their people to join the ROC. However, this did not lead to any real results, and the community of Udin remained outside the church's nourishment. On May 28, 2003, the Albanian-Udin Christian community was established in Azerbaijan. The Chairman of the community was Robert Mobilea. This was due to the restoration of the ancient Kish temple in Shaki (according to legend, the foundation was laid by the apostle Eliseus). In 2006, the restoration of the second Udin temple, the church in the village of
Nij, Azerbaijan Nij (also known as Nidzh; ; Udi: ''НыъжӀ'' or ''НиъжӀ'') is a town in the Qabala District of Azerbaijan. Located 40 kilometers south-west of the city of Qabala, Nij is one of the world's few settlements of Udi people. It has a population ...
Gabalinsky district, was completed. Restoration works are also continued in the village of Gum of the Gakh region and the basilica in the village of Gyumriuk with the intention of restoration of the Albanian basilica which is related to the 5th century. In 2006, the bishop of Baku and the Caspian Sea, Alexander (Ishchein), reported that Orthodox worship will be performed in Udin churches, and priests for them are trained in Russian religious schools. The Baku diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church took part in some solemn events, and even held baptisms, but there is no general progress on the involving of Udin into the ROC. Meanwhile, the Albanian-Udin Christian community exists in the form of a separate ethno-religious group with its own ideas about the "Udin Church", in which rituals are conducted not by canonical clergymen, but by the members of the community. In particular, the right to baptize was taken over by the Chairman of the AUHO Robert Mobilea and the self-styled "spiritual figure" Rafik Danakari.


See also

*
Religion in Azerbaijan Islam is the majority religion in Azerbaijan, but the country used to be considered to be the most secular in the Muslim world. Estimates include 90% (The World Factbook, 2020) and 99.2% (Pew Research Center, 2006) of the population identifyin ...
*
Christianity in Azerbaijan Christianity in Azerbaijan is a minority religion. Christians, estimated between 280,000 and 450,000 (3.1%–4.8%), are mostly Russian and Georgian Orthodox. There is also a small Protestant Christian community which mostly came from Muslim b ...
*
Russian Orthodox Church in Azerbaijan Diocese of Baku and Azerbaijan (, ) is a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church in Azerbaijan. Majority of its members are ethnic Russians of Azerbaijan. Entire territory of Azerbaijan is under ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the ''Russian Orthodox ...
* Georgian Orthodox Church in Azerbaijan


References


Literature

* Timothy C. Dowling “Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond”, 2014, 728pp, *
Vladimir Moss, The Orthodox Church in the Twentieth Century


External links


An official website of the Orthodox Union

An official website of the Eparchy of Baku
{{Eastern Orthodoxy in Europe