Udi Christians resume worship in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh monasteries
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In Azerbaijan’s Aghdara district, Udi Christians recently held a religious service at the Gandzasar monastery, continuing a centuries-old tradition of pilgrimage.
The Udi people, an indigenous Christian ethnic group in Azerbaijan, view returning to these sites as restoring a vital connection to their history. Azerbaijan is showcasing the preservation of Christian sites in the Karabakh region as part of a government program to explore the area’s religious heritage.
The Gandzasar monastery, built between 1216 and 1238 by Prince Hasan-Jalal Dawla, is at the centre of a historical dispute. Azerbaijan associates the monastery with the Caucasian Albanian Christian tradition, while Armenia identifies it with the Armenian Apostolic Church. This disagreement complicates the ongoing peace process between the two countries. Pilgrims also visit other historic Christian sites in the region, including Khudavang, Ağoğlan and Amaras monasteries, all of which Azerbaijan includes in its preservation programme.
A diplomatic delegation, including EU Special Representative Magdalena Grono, visited Gandzasar and Khudavang on September 12, and noted the differing interpretations of the sites' origins and the need to resolve these disputes for lasting reconciliation. Azerbaijan asserts a long history of peaceful coexistence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews, noting Christianity arrived in the region as early as the 1st century CE.
