CHURCH OF SAINT THADDEUS (GHARA KELISA)

An essential visit. The church of Saint-Thaddeus in the village of Chaldoran played a major role in the Armenian Church. According to tradition, the apostle Thaddeus, after his arrival in this region, was entrusted by Christ himself with the evangelization of Armenia. He will raise a chapel in 66 at the very location of a former pagan temple. Died as a martyr, Thaddeus will be buried in the church. Iran's Largest Christian monument, perched on a promontory in the centre of a vast plateau and isolated in the heart of the polychrome mountains of Iranian Azerbaijan, the black and white church emerges from far behind its fortified enclosure. Overcome by two domes, the old and the new church evoke the two peaks of the small and Grand, so dear to the Armenians. However, few elements remain from the original building. See the oldest part around the altar and the bedside, and the enclosed garden. Note the finely carved stones of floral motifs. In the th century, the whole will be revamped following an earthquake. Rarely visited, and the clearest deserted of time, Saint-Thaddeus Church resumes only three days a year in July. We celebrate the common feast of the apostle Saint Thaddeus and the Virgin Santoukht. Pilgrims from the Armenian community come from Tehran, Isfahan and Oroumiye to take part in festivities and meditation. They often nest on site. Mount Ararat (5 165 m) in Armenia is visible in clear weather from the surrounding mountains. According to the Bible, Noah's ark completed his journey:

" Make yourself an arch of softwood wood. You're enduiras with bitumen inside and outside. I am going to bring the Flood - that is, the waters - on the earth, to destroy under the heavens any animated creature of life; everything on earth will expire. […] After 150 days, waters diminished and, in the seventh month of the month, the ark rested on Mount Ararat. '——— Extract from the Old Testament