Diaspora temple · Armenia
Aknalich Temples (Ziarat & Quba Mêrê Dîwanê) Ziyaret / Quba Mêrê Dîwanê
A temple complex in Armenia including Quba Mêrê Dîwanê, among the largest Yazidi temples in the world.
Overview
About Aknalich Temples (Ziarat & Quba Mêrê Dîwanê)
The village of Aknalich, in Armenia's Armavir province, holds two Yazidi temples: the smaller Ziarat, opened in 2012, and the much larger Quba Mêrê Dîwanê, completed in 2019 and among the biggest Yazidi temples anywhere. They serve Armenia's Yazidi population, the country's largest ethnic minority.
The complex has become a focus of religious life and identity for Yazidis of the Caucasus, and a visible statement of the community's permanence in Armenia.
Purpose-built temples outside the homeland are recent and significant: they signal the settled permanence of a diaspora community and give it a visible centre of worship.
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Coordinates and external references
Coordinates are approximate and provided for orientation. They should be re-checked against an authoritative gazetteer before any operational use.
Source note
References for this place
This entry is an editorial synthesis of the references below, chosen for the place type. It reproduces no restricted or copyrighted text and should be expanded only after specialist review.
The Yezidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion
Bloomsbury, 2014. Anchor reference for Yazidi sacred sites, shrines, architecture, and material culture, including Lalish and the shrines of Sinjar and Sheikhan.
The Religion of the Peacock Angel
Routledge, 2014. Reference for the Yazidis of the Caucasus — Armenia, Georgia, and the communities that spread into Russia.
“Yazidis i. General,” Encyclopaedia Iranica
Specialist overview of Yazidi history, geography, community, and identity across the homeland, the Caucasus, and the diaspora.