UNESCO World Heritage Centre (press release), France

Armenian monasteries in Iran added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Fortified Armenian monasteries in Iran were added to the new sites
inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on 6 July.
The Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iran, in the north-east of the
country, consists of three monastic ensembles of the Armenian
Christian faith: St Thaddeus and St Stepanos and the Chapel of
Dzordzor. These edifices – the oldest of which, St Thaddeus, dates
back to the 7th century ` are examples of outstanding universal value
of the Armenian architectural and decorative traditions. They bear
testimony to very important interchanges with the other regional
cultures, in particular the Byzantine, Orthodox and Persian. Situated
on the south-eastern fringe of the main zone of the Armenian cultural
space, the monasteries constituted a major centre for the
dissemination of that culture into Azerbayjan and Persia. They are the
last regional remains of this culture that are still in a satisfactory
state of integrity and authenticity. Furthermore, as places of
pilgrimage, the monastic ensembles are living witnesses of Armenian
religious traditions through the centuries.

This is the fourth cultural site to be added onto UNESCO’s World
Heritage List since the start of the current session of the World
Heritage Committee today. The three properties inscribed earlier today
were: Le Morne Cultural Landscape in Mauritius, The Al-Hijr
Archaeological Site (Madâin Sâlih) in Saudi Arabia, and
the Fujian Tulou in China.

States Parties
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Regions
Arab States
Contacts
Gina Doubleday
Joanna Serna-Sullivan
Source: UNESCO Contact: r.amelan@unesco.org