Located in the South-east of Iran, Lut Desert is an exemplar of this geographical feature involving a variety of desert landforms in a comparatively small area. It located in Provinces of South Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchestan and Kerman. Kaluts or yardang that are massive corrugated ridges are the most touristic attraction of the west of Lut Desert and in the east of the desert ergs and varied huge dunes prevail.

Gandom Beryan is a vast plateau of the Lut Desert covered in dark lava that according to NASA often records the highest earth temperature of around 70°C. Gandom Beryan meaning toasted wheat in Farsi probably gained its name when a load of wheat left in the region was scorched by heat after few days.

Mighty wind between June and October creates massive and awe-inspiring Kaluts. Kaluts of Shahdad are so stunning that resemble an imaginary city from a perspective outlook. Sunset and dawn offer a breathtaking view of these of natural castles of shimmering golden sands. The Kaluts of the Lut Desert reach to 155 meters high and are amongst the highest yardangs on the earth.

Lut Desert is also well-known for its active and moving dunes that at some point soar to 500 meters. Lut houses various forms of dunes such as linear-shaped, crescentic-shaped, star-shaped, and funnel-shaped dunes beside nebkas with the shield of plants. Similar to its yardangs, dunes, and nebkas of the Lut are of the highest of their kind on the earth.

The Desert also contains a wide variety of salt landforms such as playa or salt pans with polygonal fractured crusts, white crystalline riverbeds, gypsum domes, tepee fractured salt crusts, salt karren, and small salt blisters. Alongside salty features, there are some other desert landforms in Lut including hamada that is a type of stony desert pavement, bajada or alluvial fans, and gullied badlands. Besides, despite the low precipitation rate and harsh weather conditions, resistant flora and fauna live in this arid desert.

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Chapel of Dzordzor, Armenian Monastic Ensembles – Maku, West Azerbaijan, Iran
Photo by Uwe Seidner / Shutterstock

Iranians and Armenians have long had numerous cultural exchanges throughout history. Iran became the second home for Armenians when Shah Abbas I of Persia forced some Armenians to leave their land to Iran in 1622 CE. Thus, Armenians settled in several cities, and built their own neighborhood and magnificent churches. Three churches in West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan provinces, date back to the 7th to 14th centuries CE, have kept their utter integrity and authenticity. These churches demonstrate the influence of Armenian architecture and decorative arts and their interaction with other regional cultures such as Byzantine, Orthodox, and Persia.

These works were registered in UNESCO World Heritages list in 2008.

Saint Stepanos Monastery, Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran
Photo by DyziO / Shutterstock

Saint Thaddeus Monastery

Situated in the Chaldoran Mountains, The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus or so called Qara Kilisa in Azerbaijani (meaning the black church because of its white and black stones) is the best maintained medieval church in Iran (West Azerbaijan).

According to Armenians, Thaddeus and 3000 of his Armenian followers became massacred by the king of Armenia. But to commemorate, three centuries later a chapel was made for them, when Armenia became to the first Christian nation in the world. Every year at the beginning of summer, Armenians from Iran and Armenia undertake a three-day pilgrimage in this monastery on the martyrdom day of Saint Thaddeus.

This rectangular monastery was seriously damaged after an earthquake in 1319 CE, but it was reconstructed in 1810 CE chiefly with white stones. Saints, angels, and kings are carved inside the monastery.

Saint Thaddeus Monastery, Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran
Photo by knovakov / Shutterstock

Saint Stepanos Monastery

In the north-west of Jolfa and close to the Iranian side of the Aras Riverin (East Azerbaijan), the Saint Stepanos Monastery is located in green canyon. Its construction dates back to the 9th century but similar to the Saint Thaddeus monastery, the edifice suffered from the earthquake of 1319 CE and was rebuilt in the Safavid era. Its name is derived from the name of Stephen, the first martyr of Christianity.

The Monastery consists of a cross-shaped main hall adorned with beautiful paintings, and a detailed sanctuary. Red stones are used in the construction of the monastery, the architecture resembles Armenian and Georgian monasteries, and its bell tower is built upon a structure with eight decorated columns which stands on a porch connected to the southern wall.

Chapel of Dzordzor

The Chapel of Dzordzor or so called Holy Mary is situated in West Azerbaijan province on a mountain slope near Maku. The chapel looks minimal and made of carved stones, and windows are decorated with ogee arch columns.

Interestingly the chapel was relocated to a place 600 meters away and 110 meters higher than its primary location following a plan to build a dam in the region. In 1987 CE, this dislocation took 25 days; every single stone was transferred to the target location in accords with scientific principles.

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