Our cities
Explore each city’s unrepeatable delights and mysteries with your own eyes. Learn about the unique history and tales of you preferred city with its landscapes and sites, and much more…
- Abadan
- Abarkooh
- Abyaneh
- Ahvaz
- Amol
- Arak
- Ardabil
- Ardakan
- Astara
- Babol
- Babolsar
- Bam
- Bandar Abbas
- Bandar Anzali
- Birjand
- Borazjan
- Boroujerd
- Bushehr
- Chabahar
- Chalous
- Damghan
- Dezful
- Gorgan
- Hamadan
- Ilam
- Isfahan
- Jiroft
- Kashan
- Kerman
- Kermanshah
- Khorramabad
- Kish
- Lahijan
- Mahan
- Mahmoud Abad
- Maku
- Mashhad
- Meybod
- Naein
- Nour
- Nowshahr
- Oraman
- Qazvin
- Qeshm
- Qom
- Rafsanjan
- Ramsar
- Rasht
- Sanandaj
- Sari
- Semnan
- Shahr-e Kord
- Shahroud
- Shiraz
- Shush
- Shushtar
- Sirjan
- Tabriz
- Tehran
- Tonekabon
- Urmia
- Yasuj
- Yazd
- Zahedan
- Zanjan
Naneh Maryam Church or Church of East Assyria or St. Mary Church is one of the oldest churches in Iran. Built in the year 32 CE, Naneh Maryam is considered by some accounts to be the first church built in the East and by other accounts to be the second largest church of the old world after the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
According to Assyrian writers, the church was originally a Zoroastrian Fire Temple. An old gravestone in the church told the story of Magi from this temple witnessing the Christmas Star and traveling to Jerusalem to meet the Messiah. The story says that upon their return from Jerusalem, the Magi turned their temple into a church and spent the remainder of their lives spreading the Christian faith. The Magi are said to have been buried on the grounds of the church. The gravestone containing this story was removed during WWI by Russian forces and is now housed in a museum in Kiev.
Archeologists say that the arches and pillars of Naneh Maryam Church date back to the Sassanid era (226-651 CE) and that the interior of the church displays a combination of Parthian (247 BC–224 CE) and Sassanid architecture.
In accordance with Assyrian values, the interior of the church lacks ornate decorations or embellishments in the form of wall paintings or stucco reliefs. The church has 9 pews, 9 confessionals and a low door above that opens to a large courtyard. Above this door is a sign that tells visitors to remove their shoes as they are entering sacred ground. The floor is covered with rugs.
The small apse has a domed ceiling. A narrow corridor to the right of the apse leads to an oven where communion bread was once baked. There is a baptismal font next to this oven.
Over the years the appearance of this church has significantly changed due to several renovations. According to Assyrian accounts, a Chinese princess who resided in the church on returning from her visit to the Archbishop of Nineveh was the first to renovate the church in 642 CE. The Naneh Maryam Church was also renovated in 1963 when additions were made to the structure.
In the past members of the clergy and notable Christian figures were buried in the church. The historical Naneh Maryam Church is still used as a place of worship today.
Holy Mary Church
-
Address
West Azerbaijan Province, Qushchi, Khayyam St