EMERGENCY RESTORATIONS COMPLETED ON ST. THADDEUS CHURCH
Maryam Tabeshian

Cultural Heritage News, Iran
Dec 8 2006

Photo: St.Thaddeus Cathedral, known as Qara Kelisa (Black Church),
West Azarbaijan provice, northwest Iran St. Thaddeus Cathedral,
also known as Qara Kelisa (The Black Church), northwest Iran, was
renovated by experts in an attempt to register this 1700-year-old
church in UNESCO’s list.

Tehran, 8 December 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) — Renovation experts
ended their emergency restorations on the Church of Saint Thaddeus,
locally known as Qara Kelisa (The Black Church), built 1700 years
ago in the Iranian northwestern province of West Azarbaijan, in an
attempt to inscribe this ancient monument in UNESCO’s list of World
Heritage Sites in 2008.

Qara Kelisa had previously been put up by Iran for UNESCO world
registration in 2007, but the international organization turned down
the application due to lack of substantial documents including those
pertaining to the value of the building and maps of its precincts.

Experts of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO)
are now working on the Church’s dossier to be forwarded to UNESCO
for a final review in 2008.

According to Qara Kelisa project manager, Mehdi Shoja-del, an
equivalent of 60,000 US dollars had been allocated to the Church’s
initial restorations which recently came to an end.

Heavy rains had washed away the mortar gluing the stones on the
dome of the St. Thaddeus Church, causing cracks on the dome and its
columns which, according to Shoja-del, were restored by experts during
the initial phase of this project. He also said that the Church’s
surrounding site was reorganized, the northern fortified tower was
restored and the southwestern one was strengthened during the recent
restoration works by experts.

This expert further added that the next phase of the project will
begin once its plan is approved by the Council for the Management
of Churches in Iran and will include restoration of stones on the
Church’s facade, renovation of its museum, and construction of a
center for archiving documents close to the Church.

Northwest Iran is home to the oldest churches in the country among
which Qara Kelisa, St. Stepanous, and Zoorzoor stand out because of
their antiquity.

The Thaddeus Church, locally known as Qara Kelisa or the Black
Church, is considered one of the oldest churches in the world, whose
construction began 1700 years ago. Historians believe that the Church
is the tomb of Thaddeus who is said to have been one of Christ’s
disciples who traveled to Armenia, then part of the Persian Empire,
for preaching the teachings of Christ.

Armenians, an ethnic group living in the Persian Empire, followed
Thaddeus’ teachings and converted to Christianity in 300 AD. Thaddeus
was later martyred and buried in present-day West Azarbaijan
province. A tomb was erected on his burial place by his followers who
turned it into a small prayer house. The building was later changed
into a cathedral in the seventh century AD.

According to the inscriptions remained there, the Church was ruined
in by a devastating earthquake but was later restored in its current
form by a Christian religious figure.

Today the church is known as Qara Kelisa and belongs to the Armenian
community of Iran. It has an international reputation and hosts annual
meetings of world Armenians each year in July-August.

Initially, this church comprised of a small hall with a pyramid-shaped
dome on the top and 12 crevices similar to the Islamic dome-shaped
buildings from the Mongol era. The main part of this pyramid structure
followed Byzantine (Eastern Roman) architecture, including the
horizontal and parallel fringes made of white and black stones in
the interior and black stones on the exterior facing.

The monument has two sections: The old one which is made of black
stones, hence the name Qara (black) Kelisa (church) was given to it
by the locals, and the new one which is made of white stones, each
with its specific engravings.

Special features, antiquity, architectural style, decorations, its
religious importance among the world Armenians, and the celebrations
held annually in Qara Kelisa make the Church worthy of inscription
in UNESCO’s list.

Experts from Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization are
also intending to have other famous churches in the province such
as St. Stepanous Cathedral in Khoy and Zoorzoor Church in Chaldoran
included as annexes to St. Thaddeus Cathedral after its registration.

View images of Qara Kelisa here
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