ARCHITECTURAL PATTERNS AND TYPOLOGY OF WESTERN SASSANID TERRITORY CHURCHES

Abstract

As large religious minorities in the Sassanid dynasty, Christians influenced the social and political history of this era. In the reign of the Parthians government, Christianity came to the Western Iranian regions where they could expand by exploiting the Parthians’ religious tolerance. The religious tolerance of this era gave more freedom of action to the Christian missionaries to propagate their religion in the western regions. However, large-scale domestic and foreign power outcomes ensued when the Sassanids seized power. The Christians required different religious service needs before separating their churches from Western churches. A review of the studies suggests that all the churches have a certain architectural fixture, though differentiated by architectural details and spatial elements. Various classifications are provided for the Western Sassanid territory churches, including geography, functioning, and architectural features. This research seeks to classify the churches and analyze their plans to provide architectural features of the Sassanid ecclesiastical patterns.