Location: East Azarbaijan, Iran
The Saint Stepanos Monastery (Armenian: Սուրբ Ստեփանոս վանք, Surb Stepanos Vank; Persian: کلیسای سن استپانوس, Kelisā-ye San Estepānus), also known in Armenian as Maghardavank (Մաղարդավանք), is an Armenian monastery located about 15 km northwest of the city of Julfa in the province of East Azarbaijan, northwestern Iran. It is situated in a deep canyon along the Araxes, on the Iranian side of the border between Iran and Nakhchivan. It was originally built in the ninth century, and was rebuilt during the Safavid era, after being damaged through wars and earthquakes.
It is part of the Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran, which are inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
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This is another old church located at an intersection west of the Marand-Jolfa highway and east of the Khoy-Jolfa road. Also having a pyramidal dome, it is, nevertheless, quite beautiful and far more pleasant to behold than the Saint Tatavous church.
The general structure mostly resembles Armenian and Georgian architecture and the inside of the building is adorned with beautiful paintings by Honatanian, a renowned Armenian artist. Hayk Ajimian, an Armenian scholar and historian, recorded that the church was originally built in the ninth century AD, but repeated earthquakes in Azarbaijan completely eroded the previous structure.The church was rebuilt during the rule of Shah Abbas the Second.
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