Ghara Klisa

Ghara Klisa, or holy Thaddeus Church or Tatavus Church, is located in the village of Chaldoran, 20 km northwest of the city of Chaldoran.
Ghara means "black" in Azeri. Since the main building of the church is entirely covered in black stones it was called Ghara but after the restoration of the building some black stones were replaced with white ones.
Thaddeus or Tatavus was one of the apostles of Jesus Christ in the year 40 AD who came to Armenia to promote Christianity.
Sanatruk, the Armenian king, and his daughter, Sundokht, were among a large number of people who accepted Christianity but a little later the king felt repentant and opposed the new religion, ordering to kill Thaddeus, Sundokht and a group,about 3,500, who had followed Christianity.
In the year 302 AD when Tirdad ruled over Armenia, Christianity became the official and popular religion and Armenian Christians who still remembered Thaddeus's martyrdom and his followers over generations made the church right where they had escaped.
The church of Thaddeus is one of the most reliable and decorative churches of the Armenian in Iran with a world reputation. Each year in summertime in the month of July, late in Tire and the first week of Mordad, which is when Thaddeus and his fellows were murdered, the Armenian in Iran and some christian ambassadors of foreign countries pay a pilgrim to the church and take part in a special ceremony.
The church was destroyed and then renovated in different periods. In 1230, a large part of the building was devastated but when Holagu Khan stopped over in Azerbaijan, Khajeh Nasir Aldin Tusi attempted to restore it.