Items - Architecture and Asceticism

Tags: Church

247 Items

Garni

The Roman era temple at Garni, Kotayk Province, is believed to date from the first century CE and is the most notable Classical monument in the countries of the former Soviet Union. However, the temple today is the result of a reconstruction that took place in 1969-1975 as the original structure was destroyed in an earthquake in 1679. The site is included here not only because its significance for Classical architecture in the Caucasus in general, but also because the remains of a seventh-century centrally-planned church abut the temple on its western side. There is also a Roman-era bath house complex north west of both the church and the temple. It seems Garni remained significant throughout its history as there is ninth and tenth century Arabic graffiti still visible on the monument and a number of European travellers recorded their impressions of Garni even after its destruction. Today the temple is one of the chief tourist attractions in Armenia as well as being the main cult centre for Armenian Neopaganism also called Hetanism. On the day of the site visit a ritual was being enacted in the cella of the temple and some images of this event are included in this entry.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Armenia, Bath, C10th, C1st, C7th, C9th, Centrally-Planned, Church, Classical, Garni, Hetanism, Neopaganism, Roman, Temple

Tsiranavor, Avan, Yerevan

Katoghike Tsiranavor Church of Avan (Cathedral Church of the Holy Mother of God, Avan) is the oldest church known that falls within the municipal boundaries of contemporary Yerevan. It is located in the Avan district in the east of the city, north of the road leading to Geghard and Garni. The building is a centrally-planned with a quatre-lobed interior, but is square on the outside. It dates to the end of the sixth century and, as with Zvartnots and Yereruyk, it stands on a stepped platform - although in this case there are only 2 steps. The church was later renamed Surb Hovhannes (St. John) and today is a ruin missing the upper portion of the building with only one of the 4 smaller linking conches that joined the 4 main lobes of the building still extant. The site is concealed down a narrow alleyway and stands on a small patch of waste ground surrounded by domestic buildings and a small auto repair business making it exceedingly difficult to find.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Armenia, Avan, C6th, Cathedral, Centrally-Planned, Church, Tsiranavor, Yerevan

Zvartnots

Zvartnots is a centrally-planned cathedral in Armavir Province that was built in the seventh century by Catholicos Nerses III. Today it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and it remains one of the most significant early Christian monuments in Armenia. From the early twentieth century onwards it has been explored in archaeological excavations and a number of archaeologists, art historians and architects have attempted to reconstruct the original form of the building from the extant architectural details. This website is not the place to rehearse the various arguments relating to the site, but a clear and convincing summary of this history and an up-to-date interpretation of the material is offered by Christina Maranci in Vigilant Powers: Three Churches of Early Medieval Armenia, Brepols; Turnhout, 2015. This entry is obviously not the place to detail this complex historiographical tradition, but it is hoped that specialists and non-specialists alike may find some of the attached images useful and/or interesting.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Architecture, Armenia, C7th, Centrally-Planned, Church, Nerses III, UNESCO, Zvartnots

St. Gayane, Echmiadzin (Vagharshapat)

The church of St. Gayane in Echmiadzin (now Vagharshapat) in Armavir Province was built in the seventh century. It is a three-naved domed basilica of the type encountered at Odzun and, as such, is included in the list of churches included in that entry. However, unlike most of the monuments on the list, the prominent location of this church in the Holy See of the Armenian Apostolic Church means that it was renovated in the seventeenth century and has therefore undergone more change than the other buildings of this type.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Armenia, Basilica, C17th, C7th, Church, Domed Basilica, Echmiadzin, St. Gayane, Vagharshapat

Yereruyk

The basilica of Yereruyk is located in the village of Anipemza in Shirak Province in Armenia, right by the border with Turkey. It is believed to date to the fourth and fifth centuries and is one of the earliest Christian monuments in the country. Since the nineteenth century frequent comparisons have been drawn between this site and basilicas in Syria based largely on floor plans and a few images. However there is little more contemporary literature that explores this analogy in any detail and this question is considered on this site in the article entitled The Missing Link? Preliminary Fieldwork in Armenia.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Archaeology, Architecture, Armenia, Basilica, C4th-C5th, Church, Three Church Basilica, Yereruyk

Odzun

The church at Odzun in the northern Lori Province of Armenia has been variously dated as between the fifth and seventh centuries, with many sources electing to place it in the sixth century, and was subject to alterations in the eighth century. It has been undergoing a process of renovation since 2012 and these renovations were still ongoing during the site visit in August 2017. The reason for visiting Odzun is that it is a domed basilica of a type that belongs to a small group of monuments recorded in Georgia, Armenia and territories formerly belonging to both nations that now lie in Turkey. Therefore this architectural type is comparable with the church of Tsromi (Georgia), Mren and Bagawan (Turkey) and St. Gayane in Echmiadzin (Armenia). As an aside it also possesses a unique early medieval funerary monument to the north of the church where two stelae are framed by a two-arched arcade in a manner that is reminiscent of some Roman funerary monuments in northwest Syria.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Armenia, Basilica, C5th, C6th, C7th, C8th, Church, Domed Basilica, Funerary Stele, Odzun, Stela, Three Church Basilica

Ulumbo

Mikael Ulumboeli is one of the lesser-known (As)Syrian Fathers and we have very little information about his life and death. A new monastery has been built near the village of Ulumbo and it is higher up from an earlier church that was remodelled in the nineteenth century. However, neither of these sites dates to late antiquity and the location of a presumed earlier foundation and/or saint's tomb remains unknown.

Type: Architecture
Tags: (As)Syrian Fathers, C19th, C21st, Church, Georgia, Mikael Ulumboeli, Monastery, Shida Kartli, Thirteen (As)Syrian Fathers, Ulumbo

Breti

The village of Breti is believed to have been where one of the lesser-known (As)Syrian Fathers, Piros Breteli, founded a monastery in the sixth century. There are no traces of this presumed early foundation left today but a new religious community have now established a monastery around what they believe to be his tomb in the centre of the village. This is a friendly and welcoming monastery with a small church with new frescoes and the tomb is located in a small chapel to the north of the main nave. Above the grave is a fresco of the thirteen (As)Syrian Fathers and Piros Breteli is distinguished by the red writing in his halo.

Type: Architecture
Tags: (As)Syrian Fathers, Breti, C21st, Church, Fresco, Georgia, Monastery, Piros Breteli, Shida Kartli, Thirteen (As)Syrian Fathers, Tomb