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By Root 1811 0

Kurdish nationalist leader Sheikh Ubayd Allah. Christians were massacred by both sides and orchards were devastated. In 1918 most of the Christian population fled from Orumiyeh, Salmas and Khoy, wisely fearing that invading Ottoman Turks could repeat the butchery that they had perpetrated on the Armenians of eastern Turkey. Most of those who stayed were slaughtered. Some escapee Christians returned when the Turks retreated and today six different Christian faiths remain active. However, with a continual exodus of emigrants to the US and Scandinavia, the total non-Muslim population has dwindled to an estimated 4000 (excluding clandestine converts from Islam).

Orientation

The main commercial streets Imam Ave and Kashani St form a T at attractive Enqelab Sq. Beheshti St, unanimously known as Daneshkadeh St, continues west to Pol-e-Qoyum junction around 3km beyond the museum. Part way Ostadan St doubles back to the north through the city’s most upmarket quarter.

Information

Aynet (Tarzi St; internet per hr IR6000; 9am-9pm Sat-Thu, 10am-1pm & 4.30-8pm Fri) Good internet connection here, some English spoken.

Bank Melli (Kashani St)

Jahan Moneychanger ( 222 2255; Ataee St; 9.30am-1pm & 4-7pm Sun-Thu) Instant exchange for many currencies including Turkish lira.

Miras Ferhangi ( 340 7040; Daneshkadeh St; 8am-2pm Sat-Thu) West Azarbayjan’s keen English-speaking tourist information office is beside the museum.

Nashreruz (Tarzi St; 8am-noon & 4-7.30pm Sat-Thu, 8.30am-noon Fri) Small bookshop stocking excellent city maps (IR7000).

Talanet (Danesh [Kashtghar] St; per hr IR6000; 8am-11pm Sat-Thu, 10am-10pm Fri)

Telephone office (Imam Ave; 7am-7pm)

Turkish Consulate ( 222 8970; Daneshkadeh St; 9am-noon Sun-Thu) Very security-conscious.

Sights

CHURCHES

According to local Assyrian Orthodox Christians, St Mary’s (Kalisa Neneh Mariyam; off Kalisa Lane; 8am-4pm or on request) was founded by St Thomas on the gravesite of one of the Biblical magi, the pre-Islamic Persian priests who trotted across to Bethlehem to greet the infant Jesus, inventing Christmas presents in the process. This, they claim, makes it the world’s oldest still-standing church. In fact the structure you’ll see doesn’t really feel that old. It still contains four antique tombstones including that of the supposed magus but his mummified body was apparently ‘kidnapped’ by Soviet troops during WWII and taken to Kiev.

Don’t confuse old St Mary’s with the new St Mary’s in the same courtyard or with the Assyrian Protestant church that’s visible from nearby Khayyam Street where Orumiyeh’s youth make their nightly passeggiata. More atmospheric than any of these is the Assyrian Orthodox Marsarjis Church in the tiny hillside hamlet of Sir (5.6km from Pol-e-Qoyum). Despite a somewhat heavy-handed 1987 renovation, the bare stone walls of its twin cave-like chambers feel genuinely ancient. Ask for key-holder Wilson at the delightfully simple shop-teahouse (tea IR2000; 4-8pm Sun-Thu, 8am-8pm Fri) beside the church.

ORUMIYEH MUSEUM

Fronted by two stone rams, this small but richly endowed museum ( 224 6520; Beheshti St; admission IR3000; 9am-1pm & 4-7pm Tue-Sun) displays fabulously ancient pottery and fine cuneiform inscription stones. Its most eye-catching exhibit is a replica of the priceless golden chalice found at Hasanlu, beautifully embossed with charioteers.

OTHER SIGHTS

Behind the interesting bazaar, the large brick-domed Jameh Mosque ( by request) is partly Seljuk-era but heavily restored. The Sardar Mosque (Imam Ave) has a Qajar-style tri-lobed cornice, beautifully brick-vaulted interior and clock-tower minaret surmounted by what looks like a giant perfume bottle-stopper. Tucked away in a quiet mini-park, the two-storey AD 1115 Seh Gonbad tomb tower might have started life as a Sassanian fire temple. Police aggressively dissuade photography of the 1932 European-style city hall (Enqelab Sq).

Shahrchay Dam (19km from the museum) makes a popular local weekend excursion combined with chay (tea) at one of the riverside teahouses in Band (9km).

Sleeping

Guds