St. Mary Church, Urmia
St. Mary Church in Urmia
Religion
Affiliation	Assyrian Church of the East
Location
Location	Urmia , West Azarbaijan Province , Iran
Shown within Iran
Geographic coordinates	37°32′39.4″N 45°04′04.0″E  /  37.544278°N 45.067778°E  / 37.544278; 45.067778
Architecture
Type	Church
Groundbreaking	1st/7th century

St. Mary Church ( Classical Syriac : ???? ??????? ???? ???? , Persian : ?????? ??? ???? ) is an ancient Assyrian church located in the city of Urmia , West Azerbaijan Province , Iran . ^{[1] [2]}

Current old building of the church belongs to Sasanian era and its interior design is a combination of Sasanian and Arsacid architecture.

A Chinese princess, who contributed to its reconstruction in 642 AD, has her name engraved on a stone on the church wall. The famous Italian traveller Marco Polo also described the church in his visit.

Briefly prior to the World War I , it was converted by Russians to a Russian Orthodox church.

In early 1960s, the old church was restored and a modern church with a spire was built adjacent to the ancient church.

See also [ edit ]

• Iranian Assyrians

References [ edit ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Mary Assyrian Church (Urmia) .