TABRIZ-JOLFA

ST. STEPHEN MONASTERY

Tabriz was only the starting point for two trips. We slept at Park Hotel (50.000 rial) and ate the best pizza in Iran (according to the guide). We had pizza on Saturday at noon, because the pizzeria was closed on Friday evening.

The next morning we woke up very early and went to Jolfa by taxi, a town situated 136 km far from Tabriz (we bargained over the price and we reached an agreement to pay 30.000 rial for the outward journey only). As soon as we arrived in Jolfa, we went to the nearest police station to ask for the pass to visit the St. Stephen monastery;

Taxi driver

the pass was obligatory because the monastery is situated near the border with Azerbaijan, in a military area. The policemen told us that we needed a special permission from Teheran, so we gave them picture-cards of Italian soccer players to obtain the pass soon.

After settling the first formalities, the policemen sent us to another police station with a pass letter. There we picked up a soldier who accompanied us to the monastery. After we had visited the monument (it’s under repair) and signed the guest book (we wrote “First Italians to be here”) we came back to Tabriz with the  taxi driver and his wife; we picked her up in a little village near Jolfa. When we arrived we argued with the driver about the money to pay: we eventually paid 150.000 rial (he asked 200.000 rial).