TEHRAN – Hundreds of Christian worshippers and pilgrims have come together at St. Thaddeus, a UNESCO-designated church in northwest Iran, to observe their annual ritual of Badarak.

The three-day event commenced on Thursday in the church -- aka Qareh Klise (“the Black Church”) -- one of the oldest surviving Christian monasteries in the country.

The baptism of children along with performances of traditional songs and dances are among the highlights of the pilgrimage, which is traditionally made by travelers from Iran, Armenia, Syria, Lebanon, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Germany, Canada, and some other countries.

Moreover, the religious event is of high importance for Iranian-Armenians who mostly come from the cities of Tabriz, Urmia, Tehran, Isfahan, and Qazvin, to stage the reunion in groups and families. It also provides them an opportunity to go on holiday and visit distant relatives.

Besides, participants commemorate the martyrdom of St. Thaddeus, one of the twelve disciples killed while he was preaching the Gospel. The legend says a church dedicated to him was first built in 68 CE there, where Qareh Klise is standing. Thaddeus was an apostle of Christ, and the ceremony is rooted in the last supper with Jesus Christ on the night of his arrest and execution by the Roman soldiers.

St. Thaddeus is situated in Chaldoran county some 20 kilometers from Maku, adjacent to the borders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. The ancient Church shows off elaborate bas-reliefs of flowers, animals, and human figures on its façade and exterior walls. It bears verses from the Old and New Testament in Armenian calligraphy as well.

St. Thaddeus, together with St. Stepanos Monastery and the Chapel of Dzordzor, was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2008 under the name “Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran.” All three sites are located in West Azarbaijan province and are of high significance from historical and cultural perspectives.

As mentioned by the UN cultural body, the three churches collectively bear credible testimony to interchanges with the ancient regional societies, in particular the Byzantine, Orthodox, and Persian.

According to UNESCO, these churches are examples of the outstanding universal value of Armenian architectural and decorative traditions in Iran.

AFM