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  • Tehran: Saint Stepanos Skeletons Could Belong to John, the Baptist

    Saint Stepanos Skeletons Could Belong to John, the Baptist

    Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency (IRNA), Iran
    Aug 4 2005

    Iran's Armenian Archbishop believes that the newly discovered
    skeletons in Saint Stepanos Church could belong to John, the Baptist.


    Tehran, 4 August 2005 (CHN) - Following the recent discovery of
    skeletons in Saint Stepanos Church, in a letter to CHN, Iran's
    Armenian Archbishop talked of the possibility of their belonging to
    John the Baptist.

    A few months ago, a team of Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism
    Organization (ICHTO) who were studying documents from Iranian churches
    for international registration, came to discover some skeletons in
    Saint Stepanos Church, located in the northeastern province of East
    Azarbaijan.

    Saint Stepanos Church is Iran's second most important church after
    Qareh Kelisa (the Black Church) in West Azarbaijan.

    With regard to this discovery, Sabveh Serkisian, Iran's Armenians'
    archbishop and head of the Prelacy of Tehran and North of Iran,
    wrote a letter which reads as follows:

    "With regard to the box found in Saint Stepanos Church of remains of
    Apostles, it is said that the box consists of remains of John, the
    Baptist. According to Armenian historian, Aracle Davar Yareshti, when
    the Taslis-e Moghaddas (Trinity) Church of Old Jolfa was destroyed,
    a box of sacred remains and a scroll were found at the location of the
    main church altar and handed after a while to Shamon, bishop of Saint
    Stepanos Church in Darsham region. The scroll was then transferred
    to the afore-mentioned church in 972.

    "Most probably the discovered remains are of great historical value.
    According to the church tradition, we know that when Gregor was
    selected as the bishop of Gheisarieh (Constantinople), on his way back,
    Bishop Ghiondios gave him parts of the remains of John the Baptist to
    show his affection and respect. Parts of the remains were transferred
    to the town of Mush and put in the main church of John, the Baptist.

    "The transfer of these remains to another location has been the
    result of killings and destructions in the region. Priests and true
    Christians changed the location of the skeletons to preserve the
    skeletons, and as a French traveler recalls he saw the box when he
    was passing Saint Stepanos Church in 16th-early 17th century where
    he was told that the box belonged to one of the 12 Apostles of Christ."

    The bones discovered by Iranian experts in Saint Stepanos Chruch
    were collected in attendance of a representative from the Prelacy of
    Armenian Church and transferred to East Azarbaijan Prelacy until the
    completion of the restoration project of the church.

    Existence of the bones of Apostles and Christian Saints, namely Saint
    Stepanos (saint Etienne), Saint Minos and Daniel, has been pointed
    out in different sources including "six journeys of Jean-Baptiste
    Tavernier" (1676), some photo-albums in Golestan Palace, and also
    the photo archives of Adl clan, which were taken by Ali Khan Vali,
    the ruler of northern Azerbaijan in Qajar era.

    The discovery of these bones in Saint Stepanos Church highlights the
    importance of the church and is hoped to facilitate its registration
    on UNESCO World Heritage List as desired by Iranian officials.






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