St. Thaddeus Monastery

Near Maku, north-west Iran · 2014 · Night Shots

Original file 1920 × 1045 px · 443 KB

01 The photograph

St. Thaddeus Monastery, Near Maku

Place: Near Maku, north-west Iran
Year: 2014
Gallery: Night Shots
Photograph: Mohammadreza Domiri Ganji
Original file: 1920 × 1045 px · JPEG

Licence this image Order a print

Prints, and licences for editorial, exhibition and commercial use — how it works. Each request is answered personally.

Mohammadreza Domiri GanjiNear MakuNight Shots

02 The place

St. Thaddeus Monastery

St. Thaddeus Monastery is located in North West of Iran, near the city of Makoo. It is also known as Black Monastery due to the application of black stones for the building.

This monument dates back to the early years of Christianity, and is built over the tomb of St. Thaddeus –one of the early messengers of Christianity. This place is recognized as the first cathedral of Christianity, however, it has still retained its status as a monastery. As of today, in the mid-summer on the anniversary of St. Thaddeus murder, Armenian people come to this place from all over the world for religious rituals.

03 In his words

Making the photograph

This Monastery is the most important historical and religious building for non-Muslims in Iran; therefore I always wanted to take a photograph worthy of its title, in order to add it to my collection of historical places in Iran. After obtaining the necessary permits in order to photograph it at night I was able to capture it on a very cold winter night, where other than the small room in which the guards stayed, there was no light. I took this photo as a panorama, from the Monastery and the many facets of the winter sky.

Mohammadreza Domiri Ganji