The Shoghakat Church or Shoghagat Church (

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

: , ''T’avrizhi Surb Shoghakat yekeghets’i'',

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: ) is an

Armenian Apostolic , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

church in

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

East Azerbaijan Province East Azerbaijan Province ( fa, استان آذربایجان شرقی ''Āzarbāijān-e Sharqi''; az-Arab, شرقی آذربایجان اوستانی) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is located in Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armenia, ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

completed in 1940.

Location

Saint Shoghakat Church is located at the

cemetery of Tabriz, which is surrounded by Charm Street, Mashruteh-Boulevard and Bolvar-e-Mollasadra, at Charm Street opposite to the Faculty of Architecture of

Tabriz Islamic Arts University Tabriz Islamic Art University also known as Tabriz Art University is a public university located in Tabriz, East Azarbaijan. The university's major focus is on the Islamic art and architecture. The university was established in 1997. Part of the ...

, the former Khosravi Leather Factory, not far from the southern end of South Shariati (South Shahnaz).

History

In old times, the Armenian Christians of Tabriz used to bury their deceased at the cemetery near Mariam-Nanna Church in Maralan. In the 1850s, the land of the new Armenian cemetery of Tabriz was purchased by the Diocese of Tabriz when Sahak Satunyan was bishop. However, the church was built only in the 20th century. Construction of Saint Shoghakat Church was financed by Simon Manocherian, a leather-manufacturing director whose mother's name was Shoghakat, and completed in 1940.گورستان ارامنه تبریز
rmenian Cemetery of Tabriz, irandeserts.com/ref> The name of the church refers to a ray of light () that came down from heaven upon 38 Armenian nuns martyred by the pagan Armenian

King Trdat Tiridates III (Armenian: Գ ''Trdat III''; – c. 330), also known as Tiridates the Great ( hy, Տրդատ Մեծ ''Trdat Mets''), or Tiridates IV, was the Armenian Arsacid king from c.298 to c. 330. In 301, Tiridates proclaimed Christianit ...

around AD 301 at the site of the famous original

Shoghakat Church The Church of Shoghakat ( hy, Շողակաթ եկեղեցի; meaning "drop of light" because of the ray of light that came down from heaven upon Hripsime's martyrs) was erected in 1694 by Prince Aghamal Sorotetsi during the reign of Catholicos Na ...

Etchmiadzin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

built in the 6th century. Seeing Heaven's Light, Trdat converted to Christendom, and Armenia became the first Christian country.

Architecture

The shape of the church is rectangular with four square columns located in the middle carrying the dome, dividing the interior into two naves on both sides and a wider main nave in the middle. The entrance to the building is on the western side facing the sanctuary in the east. The exterior stone facades of the church are framed with semicircular and oval arches on north, south and west side. Shogaghat Church 003 - Tabriz

Notable burials

* Edward Burgess (1810–1855), merchant and

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدین‌شاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...

's principal translator *

Nshan Topouzian Nshan Ara Garabed Topouzian (Western Armenian , Persian ) or Nshan Ara Karapet Topuzian (traditional Eastern Armenian , in reformed orthography (April 2, 1966, Shtaura, Beqaa Valley, Lebanon - April 27, 2010, Yerevan, Armenia) was an Armenian ...

(1966–2010), Prelate of

Atrpatakan Atropatene ( peo, Ātṛpātakāna; grc, Ἀτροπατηνή), also known as Media Atropatene, was an ancient Iranian kingdom established in by the Persian satrap Atropates. The kingdom, centered in present-day northern Iran, was ruled by ...

, buried in front of the entrance to the church.Western Prelacy News, 30 April 2010
/ref> *

Nerses Melik Tangyan Nerses ( xcl, Ներսէս) is an Armenian variant of Narses. With the addition of -ian and -yan, it becomes an Armenian family name like Nersesian and Nersisyan. Nerses may refer to: Catholicoi of the Armenian Apostolic Church * Saint Nerses I o ...

, Prelate of Atrpatakan during the First and Second World Wars for 40 years * Bagrat, Prelate of Atrpatakan who died in 1991 * Poghos Poghosyan, who came to Tabriz as an orphan child who immigrated to Tabriz during the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire from the south of Lake Van, was cared for by Catholics and converted to Catholicism and became a Catholic priest * Manocherian family (Simon Manocherian's father, died 1944, and mother Shoghagat, died 1939) * Dr. Aslanian (died 1940) *

Howard Baskerville Howard Conklin Baskerville (10 April 1885 – 19 April 1909) was an American missionary teacher. His life ambition was to become a pastor. He worked as a teacher employed by the American missionaries at the American Memorial School in Tabriz, a ...

(1885-1909) - American teacher in the

American Memorial School in Tabriz American Memorial School of Tabriz (), established in the Iranian city of Tabriz in 1881 during the Qajar period, is one of the most prominent schools of its kind. Hundreds of Iranian received their secondary education in Memorial School. In 1935 ...

* Monument to the Armenian martyrs of

Khoy Khoy (Persian and az, خوی; ; ; also Romanized as Khoi), is a city and capital of Khoy County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2012 census, its population was 200,985. Khoy is located north of the province's capital and largest city ...

massacred in 1918 by the Ottoman army

External links

گورستان ارامنه تبریز
rmenian Cemetery of Tabriz, irandeserts.com
فهرست کلیساهای ارمنی در ایران
ist of Armenian Churches in Iran, daneshnameh.roshd.ir/mavara

References