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Hamzavi Y, Razani M. (2020). A Study of the Troglodytic Architecture of Varjuy Rocky Temple in Maragheh, with a Special Look at Architectural Decorations. Parseh J. Archaeol. Stud.. 4(11), 169-188. doi:10.30699/PJAS.4.11.169
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-193-en.html

 Abstract
The Varjuy rocky temple is one of the prominent buildings with religious purposes and troglodytic architecture on the slopes of Sahand volcanic mountain. It is located in Varjuy village, Maragheh City, East Azerbaijan Province. Verjui Village is located Varouy in the vernacular. The name “Varouy” is composed of two words of “var” with the meaning of sun and “ouy” with the meaning of house in Turkish. So, the name “Varouy” means the house of sun. This name plays a key role in understanding the meaning of this valuable Varjuy complex. Maragheh City was one of the most important cities in Azerbaijan during the Seljuk period. As the first capital of the Il-Khanid (or Mongol) dynasty, this city played a key role in the developments of that era. Maragheh city, with an area of about 5388 km2, is located on the southern slopes of Sahand Mountain in East Azerbaijan Province. It is located in 130 km of Tabriz and limited to Tabriz city from the north, Hashtrood City from the east, Urmia Lake from the west and Miandoab City from the south.
Keywords: Maragheh, Troglodytic Architectural, Varjuy Rocky Temple, Architectural Decoration, Inscription.

Introduction
Today, that room of this temple which was decorated with Muqarnas is known as Mullah Maso’om Imamzadeh, which is the burial site of Mullah Maso’om Maragheh (a scholar lived in Maragheh in the 13th century AH). Until recently, it has been the dome-shaped cover above the openings of Varjuy Rocky Temple but is now destroyed. In previous references, less attention has been paid to the architectural decorations of this troglodytic complex, and in general, many previous studies have repeated the history, use and rock reliefs of this troglodytic buiding. Since no specialized studies have been done on the architectural decorations of this complex so far despite a variety of architectural decorations in this building and the evidence of the use of decorations made by materials other than stone in this building, the present study aims to recognize and introduce the architectural decorations applied in the troglodytic architecture of Varjuy rocky temple in Maragheh. Considering the research objective, field study (coding, photography of architectural spaces and architectural decorations, and detailed exploration of them) and library study are applied to verify the obtained information and then, content analysis is performed. The present study is applied-developmental research.
Data collection methods: A. Review and study of Persian texts in the field of troglodytic architecture will be done to extract historical and technical information. B. Field study and documentation of the status quo: Field studies will be performed to understand the troglodytic architecture of Varjuy Rocky Temple and especially, its architectural decorations. In the present study, observation is one of the necessary methods for deep understanding of the nature of the phenomena and variables studied. C. Analysis: After analyzing the information obtained from field studies and observations, at this stage, a more detailed analysis of the data and identified components will be performed and in this regard, important concepts and points will be extracted.
The review of historical and comparative studies on the troglodytic architecture of Varjuy Rocky Temple showed that there is still no single opinion about the uses of this complex in different periods, especially about its temple use. However, current studies show that this building was used in the Middle Islamic period (around the Il-Khanid period). Moreover, after introducing the spaces and their architectural and structural features, as well as studying the surfaces of the interior of this rocky temple, it was found that this building has architectural decorations, which have been not described and studied in other studies on this building. In addition, there are shortcomings in the identification and accurate reporting of the verses carved on the building body, as well as the lack of recognition of architectural layers and decorations of this building in previous studies. This building has been considered and applied in the Middle Islamic period and some architectural decorations of calcareous mortars have been executed on the body of its main Gonbad-khaneh (the space under the dome), and there is a need to revise the previous interpretations of rock reliefs of this building. We now know that in addition to rocky decorations in the form of Quranic Surahs, interior plaster is observed in the troglodytic architecture of this building and all the decorations in the interior of the main Gonbad-Khaned (V-6 space) were of plaster and not rock. In addition, the plaster has been renewed in different periods and different plastering techniques have been used for the interior.
Another point is that in most of the interior spaces, a plastering mortar has been used. The plaster in this building is considered architectural decoration. Considering the stiffness, color and materials of the mortar, it seems a kind of Pozzolan-lime mortar. The mortar has been applied in several layers, all of which belong to the Middle Islamic period, because there are Thuluth calligraphies below these layers. In the architectural decorations of this collection, the inscription has been executed in two different spaces using two different techniques: carving technique in space V4 and painted inscription technique in space V6. This point was identified for the first time in this research. Evidence shows the three layers of mortar applied to the dado of the main Gonbad-Khane of the studied temple. Among the characteristics of the abovementioned mortar, one can mention the high stiffness, gray color, low thickness and similarity of the bottom layer to the surrounding stone. Evidence also indicates the use of red pigment in the structure of the mortar, which made it red (top layer). Also, in the middle layer, plant fibers have been used extensively and their remains can be clearly seen.