Saint George Church of New Julfa or Gharib Church, (

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

: ,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: ), is an

Armenian Apostolic The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic Church, belongs to the Arme ...

church in

New Julfa New Julfa (, ''Now Jolfā'', or , ''Jolfâ-ye Now''; , ''Nor Jugha'') is the Armenians, Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran, located along the south bank of the Zayanderud. Established and named after the Gülüstan, Nakhchivan, older city of Julf ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It is the second-oldest church in New Julfa.

History

Saint George Church was built in 1611. It is a famous place of pilgrimage for Armenians, as 15 pieces of stones were brought here from Etchmiadzin by the order of

Shah Abbas I Abbas I (; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers ...

, so that the Armenians would not leave New Julfa and would not return to Armenia.The Safavid king, who tried to keep the Armenians in Isfahan by any means possible, and was aware of their deep religious beliefs, ordered to demolish the

Etchmiadzin Cathedral Etchmiadzin Cathedral is the Mother church#Church as a building, mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city Dual naming, dually known as Etchmiadzin (Ejmiatsin) and Vagharshapat, Armenia. It is #Oldest cathedral, usuall ...

and move its stones to Isfahan and rebuild that church in Julfa. Nevertheless, since this was not practical, only fifteen pieces of stone were removed from the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

and different parts of the church and transferred to Isfahan. The belfry was built in the 1920s and the church was renovated in 1959. Three pieces of these stones with a carved cross in them were put in front of the altar and the rest were placed in the north courtyard of St. George's Church. Because these stones are sacred to Armenians, since then, St. George's Church has become a shrine for Armenians in Iran.

Architecture

The church building has a rectangular plan in the east–west direction with dimensions of 26 x 11.6 meters and has three small arched

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

s. The domes and roof of the church are on arches which rest on three pairs of wide columns attached to the inner walls.St. Georg Church
/ref> All three domes, the largest of which is the eastern dome, have

skylights A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History O ...

. The

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

, founded in 1920, is located, on the roof, at the western end of the church. The materials used in the church are brick and clay. The exterior walls of the building are covered with thatch and the interior walls are covered with plaster and on the inner walls, small decorations are drawn in the form of geometric lines.

Photographs

Inside chapel

Inside chapel

References

Churches in Isfahan Armenian Apostolic churches in Iran Oriental Orthodox congregations established in the 17th century Tourist attractions in Isfahan {{Iran-church-stub

History

Architecture

Photographs

See also

References