Sopurghan ( fa, سپورغان, also
Romanized as Sopūrghān; also known as Separghān, Soporghān, and Supurgan) is a village in
Tala Tappeh Rural District
Tala Tappeh Rural District ( fa, دهستان طلاتپه) is a rural district (''dehestan'') in Nazlu District, Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, ...
,
Nazlu District
Nazlu District ( fa, بخش نازلو) is a district ( bakhsh) in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 36,732, in 8,943 families. All of the district's population is Azerbaijanis. The District ha ...
,
Urmia County,
West Azerbaijan Province,
Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 243, in 71 families.
Name
According to
Vladimir Minorsky, the name of this village is derived from the
Mongolian word
suburghan', meaning a
stupa
A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.
In Buddhism, circumamb ...
.
History
The earliest mention of Sopurghan is found in a letter to Pope Pius IV in 1562. The village is mentioned again in a manuscript donated to a church in Jerusalem in 1612.
Evidence from tombstones in the village cemetery show
Assyrian presence in the village as early as 668 AD. In 1840, American Protestant missionaries built a primary school in the region. In 1862, a Russian survey showed 172 families and 2 priests living in the village. In 1883, a missionary established girls' school in the village, and in 1887, and
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
mission established a Middle School for boys below 17.
Location
Sopurghan is located 26 kilometres northeast of the city of
Urmia and 2 kilometres from the edge of
Lake Urmia.
References
Populated places in Urmia County
{{Urmia-geo-stub