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- Title
SAFAVID AND PORTUGUESE CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE ON SAINT STEPANOS MONASTERY IN JULFA, IRAN.
- Authors
Shayestehfar, Mahnaz
- Abstract
The Monastery of Saint Stepanos, in Julfa, is located in northwestern Iran, in the province of East Azerbaijan. Whilst the exact date of construction is unknown, the building displays exceptional architecture. It is believed that the monastery was built between the tenth and seventeenth centuries, and this doubt emphasises the need to investigate the nature of structure and decoration. The Monastery is situated in a deep canyon beside the Araxes river, on the Iranian side of the border between Iran and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic in Azerbaijan. It was originally built in the ninth century, and was rebuilt during the Safavid era after being damaged by wars and earthquakes. Considering that scholars and travel writers, such as the French Traveller Taurine, consider the construction of this building to be from the Safavid period, probing the structural and decorative similarities of this building with Safavid period architecture can be a way of dating this outstanding historical monument. During the Safavid period, the Portuguese arrival on the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf (1515–1622 AD) prepared the ground for the arrival and activity of European Christians, who spread Christianity and its culture. One of the earliest consequences of this was the construction of the Monastery and other Christian architecture. The basic objectives of the article are to study the influence of Portuguese Christian architecture on the construction of Saint Stepanos Monastery, and to investigate the influence of Safavid structural design on its architecture. The main questions, are what influence has the architecture of Saint Stepanos Monastery had on Christian architecture in Portugal, and what influence did the architecture the Monastery have on the architecture of the Safavid period? This research for this article is descriptive and analytical based on historical information, available documents and existing images. An examination of the architectural similarities between Saint Stepanos Monastery in Julfa and Christian architecture in Portugal is essential for a more accurate understanding of the Monastery.
- Subjects
IRAN; RA'S al-Khaymah (United Arab Emirates); AZERBAIJAN; CHRISTIAN saints; MONASTERIES; MONUMENTS; CHRISTIANITY &; culture; ARCHITECTURAL design
- Publication
Baltic Journal of Art History, 2022, Vol 23, p37
- ISSN
1736-8812
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.12697/BJAH.2022.23.03