The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus (, ''Surb Tadeosi vank''; , ''Kelisā-ye Tādeus moghadas'') The "Holy Tadeosi Cathedral" is an ancient

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 ...

monastery in a mountainous area of

West Azerbaijan province West Azerbaijan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, whose capital and largest city is Urmia. It is in the northwest of the country, bordered by Turkey ( Ağrı, Hakkâri, Iğdır and Van Provinces), Iraq ( Erbil and Sula ...

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 believed to be one of the oldest church buildings in the world. Also known as Kare Kilisa (the "Stone made Church") (Kare in Armenian translates to "stone," and Kelisa is the Persian word for "church"), this historic site is located approximately 20 kilometers from the town of Chaldiran in Iran, in the region historically referred to as Ancient Armenia in the East. The monastery and its distinctive Armenian

conical roof A conical roof or cone roof is a cone-shaped roof that is circular at its base and terminates in a point. Distribution Conical roofs are frequently found on top of towers in medieval town fortifications and castles, where they may either sit d ...

s are visible from long distances. The Monastery is the site of the Pilgrimage of St. Thaddeus which in 2020 was added by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

to its list of

Intangible Cultural Heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. In ...

History and architecture

According to the tradition of the

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

Saint Thaddeus Jude the Apostle (Ancient Greek: Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas Iakóbou Syriac/Aramaic: ܝܗܘܕܐ translit. Yahwada) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is generally identified as Tha ...

, also known as Saint Jude, evangelized the region of Armenia and Persia. According to Moses of Khorenatsi, an Armenian historian writing in the 5th century, Thaddeus suffered martyrdom in Armenia under King

Sanatruk Sanatruk ( Latinized as ''Sanatruces'') was a member of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia who succeeded Tiridates I of Armenia as King of Armenia at the end of the 1st century. He was also King of Osroene (reigned 91–109), a historic kingdom lo ...

, and is revered as an

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

of the Armenian Church. Legend has it that a church dedicated to him was first built on the present site, also the site of his tomb, in AD 66,The Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iranian Azarbayjan

, 2007 with another source placing the foundation in AD 239 by St. Gregory the Illuminator. Another tradition states that Thaddeus built a monastery at the site for his followers, who buried him there upon his death. The exact date of construction is unknown. The monastery was damaged in 1231, during the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

invasion of Armenia, and the Persian Empire, and again in 1242. Little remains of the monastery's original structure, as it was extensively rebuilt after an earthquake damaged it in 1319, during which 75 monks died. Nevertheless, some of the parts surrounding the altar

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

date from the 7th century. Much of the present structure dates from 1811, when the

Qajar The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran an ...

prince

Abbas Mirza Abbas Mirza (; 26 August 1789 – 25 October 1833) was the Qajar dynasty, Qajar crown prince of Qajar Iran, Iran during the reign of his father Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (). As governor of the vulnerable Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan province, he played ...

aided renovations and repairs. Simeon, Father Superior of the monastery, added a large narthex-like real Armenian architecture, west extension to the church. The west extension duplicates the design of

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 ...

, the mother church of the

. The 19th century additions were constructed from ashlar Ashlar masonry stone. The earliest sections are black and white stone. In July 2008, the Monastery of Saint Thaddeus was added to

's World Heritage List, along with two other Armenian monuments in the same province: the Monastery of Saint Stepanos and the

Chapel of Dzordzor The Chapel of Dzordzor (, ) is part of an Armenian monastery located in Maku County, West Azerbaijan province, Iran, on Zangmar River near the village of Baron. The monastery had its heyday in the fourteenth century before being abandoned and de ...

Notable details

Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew

According to Armenian Church tradition, the Apostles

Thaddeus Thaddeus (, , from ) is a masculine given name. As of the 1990 United States census, 1990 Census, ''Thaddeus'' was the 611th most popular male name in the United States, while ''Thad'', its diminutive version, was the 846th. Alternate forms * ...

and

Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...

traveled through Armenia in AD 45 to preach the word of God, where many people were converted and numerous secret Christian communities were established. The ancient Christian historian

Moses of Khorene Movses Khorenatsi ( 410–490s AD; , ) was a prominent Armenian historian from late antiquity and the author of the '' History of the Armenians''. Movses's ''History of the Armenians'' was the first attempt at a universal history of Armenia and r ...

told the following story, considered a legend by most modern historiographers. Thaddeus converted King

Abgar V Abgar V (c. 1st century BC – c. AD 50), called Ukkāmā (meaning "the Black" in Syriac and other dialects of Aramaic), was the King of Osroene with his capital at Edessa. Background Abgar was described as "king of the Arabs" by the Roma ...

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

. After his death, the Armenian kingdom was split into two parts. His son Ananun crowned himself in Edessa, while his nephew

ruled in

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 ...

. About AD 66, Ananun gave the order to kill Saint Thaddeus in Edessa. The king's daughter Sandokht, who had converted to Christianity, was martyred with Thaddeus. Her tomb is said to be located near the monastery.

Events

The annual ceremony and pilgrimage in the St. Thaddeus Monastery was held 14–16 July 2016. It was held by the Armenian Diocese of Atrpatakan. In December 2020,

added the pilgrimage to its list of

Gallery

Qareh kelissa.jpg, The compound Ghara kilisa(2).jpg Armenian Monastery of Saint Thaddeus - closeup.jpg, The monastery Qara kelisa iran.jpg, Another view of the monastery Eastern facade detail of the opening.jpg Closer view of the domes.jpg Facade detail 22.jpg Gara Kelisa 17.jpg Gara Kelisa 18.jpg Bell tower and northern facade.jpg Bell tower and western facade.jpg Bell tower from north.jpg Detail of northern apse.jpg Gara Kelisa 8.jpg Detail of the south east column of the bell tower.jpg Detail of the south west column of bell tower.jpg Detail st michel qara kelisa iran.jpg Facade detail 07.jpg Facade detail 11.jpg Monastery of Saint Thaddeus 13.jpg Facade detail 19.jpg Detail croix qara kelisa iran.jpg, Details of craftsmanship 25005251 196656597558717 9211796447157026816 n 05.jpg Gara Kelisa 10.jpg Gara Kelisa 13.jpg Gara Kelisa 12.jpg Gara Kelisa 11.jpg Saint Thaddeus Monastery, interior view 339.jpg Interieur qara kelisa iran.jpg, Interior view Saint Thaddeus Monastery, interior view 314.jpg File:Armenian Monastery of Saint Thaddeus - panorama.jpg, Panoramic view from the outside

References

External links

UNESCO World Heritage: Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran

Thaddeus Monastery at Armeniapedia

St Thaddeus at Armenica.org

* Hamid-Rezā Hosseini, ''Sound of the Ancient Bell'', in Persian, Jadid Online, October 31, 2008
آواى ناقوس کهن , جدید آنلاین
br /> A shorter English version: ''Iran's World Heritage Monastery'', Jadid Online, December 25, 2008
Iran’s World Heritage Monastery , جدید آنلاین
br />Slide show (with English subtitles)

(5 min 41 sec) {{Portalbar, Iran Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran Buildings and structures completed in 1329 Christian monasteries established in the 1320s Vaspurakan Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity History of West Azerbaijan province Buildings and structures in West Azerbaijan province Tourist attractions in West Azerbaijan province Buildings and structures on the Iran National Heritage List World Heritage Sites in Iran