Monastery of Saint Thaddeus

The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus (Kara Kilise) is an inactive Armenian monastery in Iran, in the Chaldoran district, in a mountainous area 20 km from the town of Maku. It bears the name of the Apostle Thaddeus, whose presumed grave lies within the monastery. According to legend, the first church was built here in 68 AD. The earliest records of the monastery date from the 7th century.

The present building of the main church was erected in 1329 on the site of an earlier one destroyed by an earthquake, and most of the other buildings date from the early 19th century. In 2008 the monastery was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of “The Armenian Monasteries of Iran”. Every year in early July, on the feast of Saint Thaddeus, pilgrims come here from all over Iran.

The photograph shows the church's 2 conical domes, one of them in bands of dark and light stone, together with the wall and a round tower.