Sept 00 - In a Kurdish home in the village at Qareh Kelīsā ('Black church'), West Azerbayjan prov., Iran

Here I've been invited into the family home of a friendly, ample matriarch, dressed in her Kurdish style of dress. (I took a portrait shot but it's out of focus). I was given a tour of the home in which there was a large carpet loom in another room. I'd just arrived here in this small Kurdish village, home to the famous 'Qareh Kelīsā' or 'Black church', aka the Monastery of St. Thaddeus, a large, ancient Armenian church which the LP described as the most significant Christian monument in the country, and which is said to be the 2nd-most important Armenian church anywhere after Etchmiadzin cathedral in Armenia. (See below).

 

- I had plans to visit and tour 'Qareh Kelīsā' when I arrived in Shut (or Showt, pron. Shoot) in transit late the day before. (If I'd known better, I would've taken that twisty road south from Maku to the photogenic Chapel of Dzordzor above its green lake, continued south to the village of Emāmqolī Kandī-ye ‘Olyā, and hiked the 6 or 7 clicks further south to Ghara kelise for an epic trip.) Shut had a population of < 20,000 in 2000. According to notes I wrote on the back of a photo 20 yr.s ago, I tried to continue on through Shut and south by thumb late that first day "but a policeman and a friend of his wouldn't let me. Something about ferocious dogs roaming the countryside (probably bunk). [Kangals? I don't think it was 'bunk' today.]" I recall he took pains to warn me about packs of dogs, but the next morning as I was about to set out. He suggested I pitch my tent on the sidewalk right before the station, which would be a first for me in my travels. I persuaded him to allow me to set up on the grass on the grounds of the station. I had a cup of tea with him early the next morning before heading SW down the Chaldran-Shut road. I hitched @ 30 clicks SW to a T-junction with another dirt road and hiked and hitched up that for 3-4 clicks to Qareh Kelīsā.

www.google.com/maps/@39.1766061,44.6805512,24090m/data=!3...

- The village was exotic, with adobe houses of a style I'd see in New Mexico 8 yr.s later, with the ends of logs that form the roof protruding at the top (as seen at Acoma and at famous Taos Pueblo in the photo in the link [but not piled up of course]. www.flickr.com/photos/97924400@N00/4288829018/in/datepost... The similarity is kind of remarkable.) Round cow-dung patties were pasted against the outer walls of many of the houses and other bldg.s to dry in the sun (later to be used as fuel), and were then piled up and preserved in bee-hive-esque stacks.

- Kurdish women are the most colourfully and elaborately dressed in the middle east, and even the little girls were dressed up in this village. (I'll scan a photo.) Long-haired goats had free rein here and were colourful too. Everyone was kind and friendly. There was one other tourist there, who I saw from a distance (1 of only a handful that I'd see over the next 3 to 4 weeks), and I had the old church all to myself.

 

ST. THADDEUS MONASTERY: "According to the tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church, St. Thaddeus, aka St. Jude [aka Tatavoos], evangelized the region of Armenia and Persia. He and the apostle Bartholomew traveled through Armenia in 45 A.D. to preach to and convert the locals, and established many secret Christian communities.

- "Moses of Khorenatsi, an Armenian historian writing in the 5th cent., wrote that Thaddeus converted King Abgar V [he of the Mandylion fame] of Edessa [latter day Urfa in SE Turkey, a cradle of Christianity. Abgar was referred to as "king of the Arabs" by Tacitus; the Abgarids were Arabs per scholarly consensus]. Following Abgar's death, the Armenian kingdom was split into two. His son Ananun crowned himself in Edessa while his nephew Sanatruk ruled in Armenia. @ 66 A.D., Ananun gave the order to kill Thaddeus in Edessa. The king's daughter Sandokht, who had converted to Christianity, was martyred together with Thaddeus. Her tomb is said to be located near the monastery" (see below). The LP (2012) reports that Thaddeus' 3000 converts were massacred as well, according to legend. Thaddeus is revered today as an apostle of the Armenian Church.

- Abgar is the legendary king who allegedly wrote to Jesus to ask if he would come to Edessa and cure him of a disease. Jesus dictated a letter in response to say I'm busy now and I'm preparing for a premature death and to be resurrected, etc., but it's to your credit that you believe I can help, so after I'm gone I'll send someone who will. According to one account, this letter was sent back with a painting of Jesus made by Abgar's envoy Hannan with "choice paints", and according to another, much more popular, account, Jesus pressed his face into a cloth upon which the image of his face was replicated, and that (the Mandylion, the first Christian icon) was sent to Abgar. Following the crucifixion, Thaddeus aka Jude the apostle sent Addai (one of the 70 or 72 in Luke 10: 1-12) to Abgar to cure him, and then Abgar converted. (The Mandylion wasn't impressive enough in itself.)

- In the Catholic Church, Thaddeus is the patron saint of desperate cases and hopeless or lost causes. (How can he help with lost causes, unless they're not really lost causes?) The basis for this association is fun.: It's "said to stem from the belief that few Christians invoked him for misplaced fear of praying to Christ's betrayer, Judas Iscariot, as a result of the similarity in their names. The ignored Jude thus supposedly became quite eager to assist anyone who sought his help, to the point of interceding in the most dire of circumstances." (Wikipedia) :D

- Legend has it that a church dedicated to Thaddeus was first built on the present site at Qareh Kelīsā, also the site of his tomb, in AD 66, with another source placing the foundation in 239 by St. Gregory the Illuminator. Another tradition claims 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. (Wikipedia) This tradition is the basis for the great significance of this church to Armenians, for whom it's the 2nd-most important Armenian church anywhere after Etchmiadzin.

- But according to a Wikipedia site devoted to 'Jude the Apostle', he "suffered martyrdom @ 65 A.D. in Beirut, according to tradition, together with the apostle Simon the Zealot, with whom he is usually connected. The axe [or club] he is often shown holding in pictures represents the manner of his execution. Their acts and martyrdom were recorded in an 'Acts of Simon and Jude' that was among the collection of passions and legends traditionally associated with the legendary Abdias, bishop of Babylon, and said to have been translated into Latin by his disciple Tropaeus Africanus, according to the Golden Legend account of the saints. According to one account, Jude's body was brought from Beirut to Rome and placed in a crypt in St. Peter's Basilica which is visited by many devotees. His bones are in the left transept of St. Peter's Basilica under the main altar of St. Joseph, in one tomb with the remains of the apostle Simon the Zealot, and were moved there Dec. 27, 1665. ... [For what it's worth] a plain ossuary marked with the inscription "Judas Thaddaeus" (Ιουδας Θαδδαιου) was found in Kefar Barukh, Jezreel Valley, and the site was dated by lamps and other pottery to no later than the early 2nd cent." (Wikipedia)

- The following contradicts the foregoing.: "According to legend, Thaddeus and his brethren preached throughout Palestine following the Ascension of Jesus. He moved on to Libya, then to Syria and Mesopotamia, and then found his way to Armenia, perhaps in the company of Simon the Zealot, the Apostle Bartholomew or both, where he spent his final years until his martyrdom in @ 65 AD. There is no way to verify this tradition, even through the use of questionable Apocryphal or even Gnostic documents. Nonetheless the belief is very strong that Thaddeus did evangelize in Armenia, and that he died there; and of the lesser-known Apostles, the tradition of Thaddeus’ tomb is possibly the most plausible. The largest question as to the authenticity of the holy site is whether it was the tomb of Thaddeus of Edessa, one of the 70 Disciples of Jesus, who traveled into the east with the Apostle Thomas, rather than that of Thaddeus the Apostle. Either way, it is the resting place of an important figure in the early history of the church." thecompletepilgrim.com/monastery-st-thaddeus/

 

- The monastery was badly damaged in the Mongol invasion in 1230 and again in 1242. "When Hulagu Khan was residing in Azarbaijan, Khaje Nassireddin Toosi embarked on its reconstruction." (Horizon) Little remains of the original structure as it was extensively rebuilt by Bishop Zachary in 1329 following an earthquake in 1319 (according to an inscription by the altar) which caused the deaths of 75 monks. But some elements that surround the altar apse and the dome date from the 10th cent. (I've also read from the 7th). Thaddeus is said to be interred to the right of the altar.

- Repaired in 1691 with black tuff stone, much of the present structure dates from 1811 when the Qajar prince Abbas Mirza sponsored renovations and repairs in beige-white ashlar sandstone. Simeon, the Father Superior, added a large narthex-like western extension which replicates the design of Etchmiadzin cathedral, mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

- The church is large, well-preserved, and adorned with blind arches, etc., with 2 polygonal drums (one with alternating bands of black and beige stone) under polygonal domes. Much impressive, delicate sculpture, with images of angels, saints, kings, mythical animals, elaborate crosses or khachkars, foliate and geometric designs, etc. in relief, decorates the exterior walls. I haven't found any details as to the reliefs online (where's the 'Virtual Ani' site when you need it?), but according to Bradt, "a lively narrow frieze running @ the bldg. depicts scenes from [the Persian epic] the Shahnameh [!?] amongst which are musket-bearing hunters taking shots at wild animals." I'll scan some photos. The interior is dim and austere with soot-covered walls. A fortified wall surrounds the church and its now-abandoned monastic bldgs. (a refectory, kitchens, flour mill, stores and dorms.) See the church from the 2:45 min. pt. in this Press TV clip.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVkN7VH2R28 and from the 19:30 to the 26:30 min. pt. in this.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjjgVreqhM8

- It was included in a collective Unesco site designation in 2008 ('Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran') together with the Monastery of Saint Stepanos on the Azerbaijani border and the Chapel of Dzordzor, all 3 in the same province. According to Unesco, this monastery dates to the 7th cent. and is an example "of outstanding universal value of Armenian architectural and decorative traditions and bear[s] testimony to important interchanges with the other regional cultures, in particular the Byzantine, Orthodox and Persian, situated on the SE fringe of the main zone of the Armenian cultural space. [An elaborate muqarnas vault unfolds over a fountain and a basin in a niche in one of my photos, and images of cypress trees appear in some of the reliefs.] ... As places of pilgrimage, [they] are living witnesses of Armenian religious traditions through the centuries. ... They bear testimony to a large and refined panorama of architectural and decorative content associated with Armenian culture, in interaction with other regional cultures." (Unesco) whc.unesco.org/en/list/1262

 

- This region in the far NW of Iran was "once heavily populated by Armenian Christians. It was from here that Shah Abbas I took 10s of 1000s of Armenians to Esfahan in the 17th cent. to exploit their expertise in silk trading with European and Russian merchants, and it was to this region that many 19th cent. European and American missionaries came, hoping to introduce such Monophysite Christians into the Baptist, Methodist or other Protestant churches. In 1946-'47 most local Armenians were 'repatriated' into Soviet Armenia." (Bradt) No Armenians live anywhere closer than across the Armenian border to the north or than in the city of Ourumiyeh aka Urmiah to the south as far as I know, but gather from far and wide to visit on the date of the Feast of St. Thaddeus in July. Mass baptisms of children are held there at that time. Again, Armenians consider this to be the oldest church in the world. The Pilgrimage of St. Thaddeus was added by UNESCO to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2020.

 

- I hiked up to and toured the domed, visibly ancient Chapel of St. Zachary or Zakariya, built with field stones at a height above the monastery. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zakariya_church-West_Azer...

. "An ancient chapel 2 km.s NW of the church is said to have been the place where the martyr, Sandokh [the king's daughter], was martyred" and buried. The small, simple, rectangular bldg., built with a mix of dressed stone and field stones, has a pitched roof, and is believed to be as old as Qara Kelisa. I don't recall it.

 

 

- I hitched in my first few days in Iran before I learned how incredibly cheap bus travel was everywhere there. The hitching wasn't the best, at least not on the hwy. I was never asked for payment once in Turkey (whereas it's standard in Romania), but at least one man expected payment and insisted after I'd left his vehicle. I tried to explain that I was hitching as I couldn't afford to pay, he remained insistent, I got annoyed (I forget how much he expected to be paid), and he laughed at me. (Iranians will laugh at you if you get annoyed about something, which is effective, depending on the situation.) But why would anyone hitch long-distance in Iran when a bus ticket for a 7 hr. trip was less than 1 $ Cdn. (in 2000), the cheapest anywhere?

 

 

- From Qareh Kelīsā I headed back to the Chaldran-Shut road and NE along it to Shut (I think), and then took the 32 south to my destination, Qarahziyaaddin or Qarah Zia od Din, a distance of @ 150 - 200 clicks. I might've followed the much more direct unpaved Chaldoran rd. SE to that city, but that's unlikely with the lack of anglophones @ to make the suggestion. That city's close to the remains of a famous Urartian fortress at an archaeological site named Bastam (not to be confused with the more famous 'City of Mystics', a town in NE Iran renowned for its Il-Khanate monuments).

 

 

BASTAM - Early the next morning I headed over to the hill (6 clicks from town according to the LP) which I was led to believe was the site of the famous Urartian fortress, "likely the most important of the many Urartian archaeological sites yet found in Iran." (LP) There was a low stone wall or 2 or 3 on the ridge at the top, and at least the remains of a wall which extended from the top or near it down to the base of the hill or close to it (part of which can be seen in a photo that I'll scan), and some terracing if I recall, but the ruins were so insubstantial that I wasn't sure if I was at the right spot. (I wrote on the back of a photo 20 yr.s ago that I found them to be "underwhelming". "I couldn't make out where the 'hall' was, nor the 2 large gateways [described in the L.P.]. And it was hot.") I think I've found on Google maps where I stood to take a photo from a height, @ 500 m.s NW and beyond the main part of the site, but I wonder if it's been cleaned up a fair bit since 2000, with more revelation for tourism. (That can happen.: www.flickr.com/photos/97924400@N00/50092152768/in/photoli... ) commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bastam05.jpg At least I had a good view of an exotic desert landscape to the north from a height.

- The Bastam citadel dates from the 7th cent. B.C. "The hill fortress obstructs passage /b/ the narrow valley of the Āqčāy and the plain of Qara Żīāʾ-al--Dīn through which the river flows in its lower course. The plain has been intensively cultivated by means of irrigation canals ever since the Urartian period. A road from Tushpa (Van) led to Rusa-i Uru.Tur [Bastam] and thence to the eastern parts of the Urartian realm. ... The Urartians first used the site as a staging post on the road and built a castle, 165 x 35 m.s, in the 9th-8th century B.C. This was demolished when the citadel was built in the 7th century B.C. and became the site of the south gate."

- "Rusa-i Uru.Tur (Rusaδs town) [Bastam] was founded by Rusa II (685-45 B.C.), likely soon after his accession. An inscribed stone, found at Mākū in 1910 by Count Kanitz and now in the Bāstān museum in Tehran, gives a number of Urartian place names and royal names and mentions the foundation of a temple of the god Haldi. Toward the end of Rusa II’s reign Rusa-i Uru.Tur was plundered and destroyed by fire. The site was partly reoccupied and built over in the Median-Achaemenian period, in the Parthian-Sasanian period, and again in the 3rd-7th/9th-13th cent. when an Armenian fortress and village were superimposed; after the Mongol invasion it was abandoned permanently." (Encyclopaedia Iranica)

- The fortress includes a 'nucleus' with: "A. A lower citadel, 380 x 110 m.s, containing a south gate, stables, troops' quarters, a house (for their commander?), kitchens, etc., for the garrison, all built on the site of the earlier staging post. B. The mid-level citadel, 200 x 130 m.s, containing the square, tower-shaped temple of Haldi (14 x 14 m.s) with terraces preced-ing it, reception halls, storerooms in which numerous large storage jars (pithoi), some 2.06 m.s high and 1.3 m.s wide, were found, and a meat locker (15 x 4.50 m.s), in which were found @ 600,000 bones of animals and 1,240 clay seals used to keep account of meat stocks. C. The upper citadel, 90 x 50-75 m.s, containing the governor’s residence, which at times was probably also a royal residence, the town having been a dependency of Urartu and a last refuge for its kings in times of danger." (There's more re outworks and ruins surrounding the citadel in this encyclopaedia entry online. iranicaonline.org/articles/bestam-2 )

- Here's a vlog filmed at the site, which is more substantial than I remember. A Kangal with its ears cut happens along at the 5:37 min. pt.: youtu.be/IkPSLIXfNjM?si=6Y7gMciv0gd30y-r

- From 'Urartu in Iran.: "... Rusa II (ca. 685-45 B.C.), successor to Argishti II, founded additional fortresses to consolidate Urartian power, such as Rusahinili (Van-Toprakkale), Kefkalesi near Adilcevaz in eastern Turkey, Rusa-i-URU.TUR (Bastam), and Teişebai URU (Karmir Blur, Armenia). These defended the country from the Cimmerians and Scythians to the north. Eventually these equestrian tribes would defeat Rusa II in the mid-7th cent. B.C. Urartu vanished @ 590 B.C. Its territory became a part of Media and finally of the Achaemenid Empire (the satrapy Armina) according to the inscription of Darius I (r. 522-486 B.C.) at Bisotun."

- iranicaonline.org/articles/urartu-in-iran

- www.biainili-urartu.de/Iran/Bastam/Bastam.htm

- "The Behistun [Bisotun] Inscription, a trilingual cuneiform text on Behistun rock, provides evidence that the ancient Persian term “Armina” (Armenia) is identical to the Assyrian “Urartu.” In the Babylonian text of the inscription, the country is called “Urashtu,” while in Persian, it is referred to as “Armina.” The Assyrians named the region “Urartu” (“Arartu”), the Persians called it “Armina,” and the Hittites named it “Hayasa"." allinnet.info/antiquities/once-again-about-the-false-term...

 

- While the British excavated the capital of Tushpa at Van, the Germans excavated Urartian sites in Iran, and many of the Urartian artifacts that I saw in the Pergamon museum 8 1/2 mos. earlier were found in Iran. One that made an impression was this from Toprakkale in Turkey.: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statuette_of_man_from_Top...

- 'Sargon [Neo-Assyria] v. Rusa [Urartu]': www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAw_uSF9qoY (This famous battle ensued @ 40 yr.s before Rusa II began construction of this citadel.)

- www.youtube.com/watch?v=gADe3Xe7wr4

- Urartu precedes Armenia, and so it was fitting that I should tour Iran's greatest Urartian site the day after touring the 2nd most venerable of Armenian churches, and at the end of a journey through ancient Armenia. I missed so much of what was on offer, but had a full day at Ani, took in the churches at Bana (or Banak), Kars, Khtzkonk and now at Qareh Kelīsā.

 

 

- Somewhere in the first few days of my travels in Iran, I had to go to some bureaucratic place (the bank in Bazargan at the border I think). The person behind the counter who assisted me was a woman in her chador who was forthright and confident, normal really, but who seemed bold and almost weird. I realized that my impression reflected my experience with women in Turkey over the prior 2 mos. as much as anything else. I'd become accustomed to how (relatively) quiet and demure or withdrawn Turkish women seemed to be (to me), notwithstanding that they don't have to wear the chador (they often cover their hair anyhow, esp. in the east), something I wasn't fully aware of until I dealt with this woman at the counter. She looked me straight in the eye and spoke as loudly as I did (or almost, lol). Iranian women have a reputation in the west for being subdued or oppressed, but that's certainly not the impression I had in Iran. I found them to be friendly and bold, in a good way. They'd ask me questions and share opinions. (I also found Iranian men to be more direct, etc. than Turkish men.) They're required to wear a chador or something to cover their hair, which of course I don't agree with, and their dress-code made Iran seem surreal at times. (Even the men seemed to be very conformist in their outfits, with long-sleeved shirts and dark pants. ALL Kurdish men sport moustaches.) But the dress-code seemed to be at odds with their demeanor. (Of course it's very much the opposite in neighboring Afghanistan, particularly with the Pashtuns. I saw Afghan women gathered in their colourful burkhas in Timergara, Pakistan [en route in '97], all facing me from a distance, and could tell they were all staring at the exotic foreigner but would never say a word. I'd get them in trouble if I tried to talk to any of them. [Cdn. Press article.: 'Taliban official says women lose value if their faces are visible to men in public.' www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/taliban-official-says-women-... ])

- What I experienced at that counter that day is what you might refer to as 'a culture shock'. I've experienced 'culture shock' several times and it's always revealing. The 'shock' can involve an encounter with something that seems quite strange or foreign that you didn't expect, or something familiar that suddenly seems strange for the first time. Some examples: 1. The way Torontonians dress downtown was a surprise on my return from East Asia in '89. I'd become accustomed to so many people, particularly the elderly, wearing Mao-style tunics and trousers, the moreso in Western China, nothing flashy at any rate, not even in Malaysia. A walk through Rosedale, where so many outfits seemed garish, was like watching a movie in colour for the first time. 2. My first day in Karachi in '97 was an assault on the senses. I crossed a bridge over a solid, river-length hill of trash (where was the river?), with goats walking on it. The smell! 3. My first morning in Delhi in 2011 was similar. (See my photos.) A young man was sleeping at near waist-height on a narrow lane-divider in the middle of the road. If he'd moved in his sleep, he would've fallen into traffic. ?! (My camera battery needed charging just then.) 4. I was surprisingly relaxed my first day in Romania in April, 2000, I think b/c everyone else seemed to be. (I'd entered from Hungary.) 5. On my return to Toronto in the fall of '99, having lived in B.C. for 2 yr.s, driving into the city I was shocked by all the brick bldg.s everywhere, and made with such small bricks too. There are many examples, but those come to mind first.

 

- Something exotic in Iran to get used to (but not really) over the 3 months, was the bill-board propaganda in the cities, with images of a benevolent Ayatollah Khamanei or a serious Khomeini, with the smiling faces of at least a few young soldiers martyred in the Iraq war, and with rays of light or clouds or birds, or banners, etc. I'll scan a couple. (I'll come back to this space and list some specifics as I go through my photos.)

- On one in Hamadan: some storks fly from a beach above crashing surf towards a luminous pavilion on clouds in the sky, each carrying a long red ribbon or sash in its beak with Arabic writing on it.

 

 

- I hitched I think, or I might've taken a bus, 2 1/2 hr.s, 171 km.s, from Qarahziyaaddin or Qarah Zia od Din SE down the 32 to legendary Tabriz (Tah-breeze), the first large city that I'd tour in Iran, and left West Azerbayjan prov. to enter East Azerbayjan prov. (See the photo of the old man in the hat).

- Misses en route include the Masjed-e-Jame in Marand, "established in Seljuq times and rebuilt in the 14th cent." with its "splendid plaster mihrab", and the city itself, which the 32 passes through, long claimed to be the burial place of Noah's wife. 'Marand' is said to mean 'the mother lies here'. I suspect she's buried in the Bazaar mosque as travital.com claims it "was known as the burying place of Jesus’s wife" which must be a typo, and that it had once been a church. It's also claimed by the Armenians that Noah's immediate descendants settled at Marand.

- The vast Yaam Caravanserai, an Il-khanate structure "built @ 1330" (Bradt) and renovated and reused in the Safavid period, is now a boutique hotel. It's 1 1/2 km.s SE of Yam right on the 32. The lobby would've been worth a visit. (Conversion of old caravanserais to fancy hotels is a trend in Turkey that's catching on in Iran.)

- The Church of St. John at Sohrol, @ 15 clicks NE of the 32, tall with a tower-like steeple and picturesque on the summit of a hill, was rebuilt in brick in 1840 by one Samson Makintsev (Sam Khan; a member of the Bogatyr Battalion [formed during the 19th-cent. Russo-Iranian wars with deserters from the Russian army]) on the foundations of a 5th or 6th cent. Armenian church. The colourful, historically influential Makintsev is buried under the altar. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Makintsev en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sohrol#/media/File:Holy_SURP_Hovhan... youtu.be/6pmli1xLO3U

 

 

- I would've liked to have visited Ourumiyeh (aka Urmia), the ancient city on the shrinking salt lake of the same name south of Ghara Kelise, as I'd read that an interesting collection of Christian communities is to be found there with membership in rare and ancient denominations, incl. Nestorian ('The Church of the East'), Chaldean ('Eastern Catholics', formerly Nestorians), Assyrian or Syriac (predominant in SE Turkey) [likely 'Nestorian', see the update below], and of course Armenian. I hadn't met Nestorian, Assyian or Chaldean Christians before, and I don't recall ever meeting a Nestorian to this day [again, see the update], but the region around Ourumiyeh is where they and their impressively ancient churches can be found. Many of the Assyrian or Syriac churches (at least), in villages surrounding the city, tend to be small, boxy and unassuming, made with fieldstones, and are visibly ancient. Here's a video with photos.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8TbhS90UII (I saw much that was Assyrian/Syriac in Mardin, Midyat and at 2 ancient monasteries in SE Turkey in 2012, and I know a Chicagoan cop who's Syriac from Syria.) Maar-Sargiz (7th cent.!) for one, on Ser/Sir mtn. 12 clicks west of the city, would be worth a detour. According to legend, the famous Church of St. Mary in the city (Assyrian Orthodox) was founded by St. Thomas over the tomb of one of the 3 'Wise men' who invented Christmas presents, and which the locals claim is the world's oldest extant church. It "contains 4 antique tombstones, incl. that of the alleged magus, but his mummified body was apparently ‘kidnapped’ by Soviet troops during WWII and taken to Kyiv." (LP) However, "according to Iranian tradition" and Marco Polo, all 3 Magi hailed and set out for Bethlehem from, and are buried in the ruins at, 'Saba', latter day Saveh, @ 100 clicks south of Tehran in Markazi prov. www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/sunday-vibes/2019/12/549933/myst... " [T]hey lie buried in 3 sepulchres of great size and beauty. Above each is a square bldg. with a domed roof of very fine workmanship. The one is just beside the other. Their bodies are still whole, and they have hair and beards. One was named Beltasar, the second Gaspar, and the third Melchior.” (Marco Polo)

- I haven't found any Nestorian churches online, yet. [See the update below.] I've also read that Nestorians are referred to as Assyrians as well. (? That must be so as most of the churches and Christian congregants in the area seem to be referred to as Assyrian. But Syriacs are 'Assyrians'. And Syriacs aren't Nestorians. I'm confused.)

- Update Feb. 2024: I read a list in 2000 of the denominations in and @ Ourumiyeh, and Assyrian and Nestorian were included individually. I don't recall the other reason(s) why I thought the Syriac church of the Tur Abdin in SE Turkey wasn't 'The (Nestorian) Church of the East', assuming I had any, but the confident and informative vlogger in the video in the next link maintains that "today's Assyrian Church of the East is one of the groups that claims to be a continuation of the Church of the East" (what are the other 'groups'?), that 'the Church of the East' is "today found in ancient Assyria, incl. parts of Iraq, Iran and Turkey", and that it makes use of the Syriac language AND follows Nestorian doctrine. Mystery solved?

- youtu.be/I6sVmM7Pg1s

- The Il-Khanate-era Jame mosque (built over the remains of a Sassanian fire-temple) has what could be a more impressive mihrab (1277) than any I've seen anywhere else. See it at the 41 min. pt. in this vlog.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxYYiuCVE-k

- In that same last video, the vlogger walks past a large, interesting Chaldean (Catholic) church at the 57:07 min. pt. (I've only seen one Chaldean church in Mardin, and an impressive, new one in Etobicoke.)

- Here's a hard-working man in a shop in Ouroumiyeh's bazaar who's too busy and focused to care about appearances and what people think. (I relate, whether or not I should.) youtu.be/Jeo0oJVLqaw?si=HKyxUYX40z1sIFwj

 

- There's an interesting, ancient, ruined synagogue in the city, which still has 3 hanging chandeliers, or at least it does in this photo.: archive.diarna.org/site/detail/public/2820/ www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-arrests-thieves-digging-se... "The Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Urmia ... was spoken by Jews in Urmia and the surrounding area from Salmas to Solduz and into what is now Yüksekova, Hakkâri and Başkale, Van Province in eastern Turkey. Most speakers now live in Israel. ... Fewer than 5000 are known to speak Urmi Jewish Neo-Aramaic, and most are older adults in their 60s who speak Hebrew as well. The language faces extinction in the next few decades." (Wikipedia)

- And @ 60 clicks or so NW of Ourumiyeh as the crow flies and a hike from the village of Gowdal is an incredible pile, Barduk castle (Safavid) and environs, < 10 clicks north of the Turkish border, as dramatic as anything in Tao-Kljareti, a place I'd love to explore. The region of Turkey just across that stretch of the border is remote and magical, and it stands to reason that the Iranian side would be equally so. But, again, the word magic has its origins in Iran.: www.youtube.com/shorts/a0fwunBYi3I See?

 

Done