On a recent visit to Iran I had the chance to visit a number of fine churches in different cities around the country.

One church in particular was of interest to me, the Anglican Church of St. Simon the Zealot (Kelisa-ye-Moqaddas-e Sham un-e Ghayur in Farsi) in the Southern City of Shiraz.  This church was built in 1938 by none other than Father Norman Sharp who 15 years later as we all know, built our present cathedral in 1953.  I was staying less than five minutes away and with the Bahrain connection was excited at the possibility of seeing the interior of the building.
 

Unfortunately, I was unable to get the chance to visit because the church is only open on Sunday and I was informed that the priest was away in Tehran the capital.  I knocked at the door of the church guardians and they let me in and I explained the reason for my visit.  When I mentioned the name Norman Sharp, the eyes of the lady housekeeper lit us. 

© Hendrik Asper

She said inside the church was a big portrait of the man himself.  The guardians were Armenian who spoke only a limited amount of English.

Nearby was an eight storey building going up and I got permission from the workers to go to the top and managed to get a fine view of St. Simon’s.

The church is Iranian in character with a dome similar, if not the same, as a mosque and blends in perfectly.  The main door bears a Persian cross.

According to local tradition St. Simon was martyred in Persia with St. Thaddeus another of the 12 apostles.  Iran has around 150 churches in use to this day, which shows a lot for religious tolerance.  Shiraz has an Armenian church dating back to the 17^th Century. 

Esfahan in central Iran has the largest concentration of churches in the country with 13 situated in the Julfa district of the city.  The biggest is  the Vank Cathedral built between 1606 and 1665 during the Safavid dynasty.  Inside the design is a mix of Islamic and Christian styles and a museum houses many artefacts including more than 700 handwritten books, Aemenian culture and even a small drawing by Rembrandt.  In the grounds is a memorial for the Armenian genocide of 1915 when they were forfrced to flee from Turkey.  Two other churches are of varying interest, the Church of Bethlehem and the Maryam or Church of Mary.

Tehran also has its Armenian quarter with the Sarkis Cathedral built between 1964 and 1970, quite a prominent building in itself.  If you knock on the door they will let you in to look around. A number of other churches can be found in this area which has Christians of all denominations residing in the vicinity.  Other parts of the country have notable churches, including at Jolfa north of Tabriz where the remote monastery of St. Stephen is situated in the mountains.  But the holiest for Armenians is the Church of St. Thaddeus built as a chapel in AD371 in the town of Maku near the Turkish border.  Pilgrims from all over Iran come here in mid June for the once a year service to commemorate the feast day of St. Thaddeus.