Monastery of Saint Thaddeus
A church near the city of Chaldran, Iranian national heritage, World Heritage Site
The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus (Armenian: Սուրբ Թադէոսի վանք, Surb Tadeosi vank; Persian: کلیسای تادئوس مقدس, Kelisā-ye Tādeus moghadas) is an Armenian monastery in a mountainous area of West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Although much of the present structure was erected by Crown Prince Abbas Mirza in 1811, the monastery is one of the oldest church buildings in the world.
Also known as Kare Kilisa (lit. 'Stone made Church'), this historic site is located approximately 20 kilometers from the town of Chaldiran in Iran, in the region historically referred to as Ancient Armenia in the East. The monastery and its distinctive Armenian conical roofs are visible from long distances.
The monastery is the site of the Pilgrimage of St. Thaddeus, which in 2020 was added by UNESCO to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
History and architecture
According to the tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Saint Thaddeus, also known as Saint Jude, evangelized the regions of Armenia and Persia. According to Moses of Khorenatsi, an Armenian historian writing in the 5th century, Thaddeus suffered martyrdom in Armenia under King Sanatruk, and is revered as an apostle of the Armenian Church. Legend holds that a church dedicated to him was first built on the present site—also said to be his burial place—in AD 66, with another source placing the foundation in AD 239 under St. Gregory the Illuminator.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Monastery of Saint Thaddeus” as a church near the city of Chaldran, Iranian national heritage, World Heritage Site. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as a church near the city of Chaldran, Iranian national heritage, World Heritage Site. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q842826. Authority coordinates are 39.092, 44.544. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1811 and 2020.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Monastery of Saint Thaddeus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.