ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Yenikend 10 Monuments

Azerbaijan (Country) / Northern Artsakh (Area) / Getabek (District) / Yenikend (Village)

Location

This is the second village bearing the name of Yenikend in Getabek District. It is situated on the left bank of the stream Papajan or Babajan (presently Bajanka), 19 kilometres west of the district centre, at an altitude of 1,250 to 1,350 metres above sea level.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 289.

Scriptoria
1650 y․

The earliest records of Papajan date from the period between the 1650s and 1660s, when a wide variety of manuscripts were created in the local church one after another. Their great number (indeed, we mean those preserved) truly ranks it among the most prolific scriptoria in Verin (Upper) Zakam District.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 289.

1655 y․

In 1655 Priest Avetis from Papajan started copying a Sharaknots which he completed in Jukhtak Monastery of Khavunis (“...The copying of this Sharaknots was initiated in my native village of Papajan, Verin Zakam. Now reduced to a fugitive, I completed it in the splendid church of Jukhtak in Khavunis Village...”).

Colophons of the Armenian Manuscripts of the 17th century, vol. 3. Compiled by Hakobian, V. Yerevan, 1984, p. 691.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 289.

1659 y․

Presumably, several years later, Priest Avetis returned to his birthplace, for he is known to have copied and illustrated the next three manuscripts in Papajan. In 1659 a certain Hakhum from Pasaker ordered Avetis to copy a Red Gospel and illustrate it with miniatures for his son Priest Barsegh: “This divine Red Gospel of Christ was created in Papajan Village of Verin Zakam District in times of peace, in 1659 of the Armenian era, under the auspices of Gharamurat’s cloister...” Priest Avetis copied and illustrated another Gospel in 1661 and a Sharaknots in 1668.

Barkhutariants, M. Artsakh. Baku, 1895, pp. 388-389.
Colophons of the Armenian Manuscripts of the 17th century, vol. 3. Compiled by Hakobian, V. Yerevan, 1984, pp. 867-868;.
A Catalogue of Armenian Manuscripts of the Matenadaran after Mashtots, vol. 1, Yerevan, 1965, manuscript No. 3542; vol. 2, Yerevan, 1970, p. 587, manuscript No. 7687; pp. 769-770, manuscript N 8549.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 289.

1662 y․

It should be noted, however, that the name of Papajan is not associated with this clergyman only. Another scribe working there was Priest Hovhannes, who created a manuscript there in 1662.

A Catalogue of Armenian Manuscripts of the Matenadaran after Mashtots, vol. 1, Yerevan, 1965, manuscript N 337.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 289.

Population
1770 y․

The village was stripped of its inhabitants in the 1770s.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 289.

19 c․

In the late 19th century, its site retained a church and cemetery.

Barkhutariants, M. Artsakh. Baku, 1895, p. 312.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 289.

Description

In the Soviet years, a Turkish village named Yenikend was established in the south of Papajan. Its residents destroyed the church of this historical Armenian village and a chapel located not far from it. Moreover, they continually used the tombstones and khachkars of the village cemetery as building material.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 289.

1982 y․

During our visit to Papajan in 1982, we found only the remnants of these monuments.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 289.

Name	Year/Century	Etymology
Papajan