St. Hovhannes Church :: ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

St. Hovhannes Church

Azerbaijan / Northern Artsakh / Khanlar / Hajishen

Historical Introduction
1861 y․

One of the earliest archive documents to make mention of Hajishen’s parish church of St. Hovhannes dates back to 1861.

National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3835, pp. 147-148.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 389.

Repairs
1883 y․

In 1883 Yelizavetpol inhabitant Hakob Hovakimian Paroniants applied to the spiritual authorities for permission to repair the semi-destroyed church of the village: “...to allow me to renovate the old dilapidated church of St. Hovhannes, which is a famous pilgrimage site, through my own means. I also intend to enclose its territory that covers fifteen sazhens in the north; twenty-six sazhens in the east, reaching the Royal Repository of Manuscripts; eleven and a half sazhens in the west, stretching up to a road, and ten sazhens in the south, extending to an old Armenian cemetery.”

National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 12, file 402, p. 8.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 389.

1883 y․

Unfortunately, however, in the spring of the same year “...resident of Yelisavetpol Hakob Hovakimian Paroniants, who planned to repair the semi-ruined church of Hajishen Village, has had an accident with his cart and died all of a sudden...”

National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 12, file 402, p. 11.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 389.

1884 y․

In 1884 Vicar of Yelisavetpol Diocese Anania Hamazaspiants the Archimandrite applied to Georgia and Imeret’s Consistory, emphasizing the inconsolable state of St. Hovhannes Church: “...although it is greatly destroyed, its walls and pillars are still preserved and the same is true of its arches that have survived to the height of their capitals. Only the ceiling has collapsed, with its stones heaped inside the sanctuary. ...in the south of the church lie some Armenian graves, part of them covered with soil and others preserved in their original places. Some other graves located in the west of the church are buried under the earth...”

National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 12, file 402, p. 12.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 389.

In the same year (1884), Gandzak inhabitant Sargis Hovhannissian Atayants committed himself to repairing the church in July, but “being very busy, he had to postpone it ... and did not pursue its fulfillment even later.”

National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 12, file 402, p. 23.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 389.

1880 y․

In the late 1880s, the Armenians of Hajishen, who totaled about a hundred families in summer-time, made every possible endeavour to renovate the ruined church, which enjoyed a wonderful position and “boasted a history of over a century, as attested by an inscription carved on its finely-cut stones...” They initiated fund-raising and collected “an amount which would certainly suffice to complete the renovation of the sanctuary together with the contribution the adjacent churches had pledged themselves to make...”

“Mshak,” 1890, No. 85, p. 1.
“Nor-Dar,” 1887, No. 138, p. 1.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 390.

1892 y․

Simeon Stepanian Arzumaniants, who was from Gandzak but lived in Baku, intended to carry out the overhaul of St. Hovhannes Church with his own financial means. In contrast to Tiflis’ Consistory, however, in 1892 the governor of Yelizavetpol rejected his petition, “...expressing willingness to allocate a site in Hajishen Village if Arzumaniants wished to cover all the expenses of the construction of a new church. Therefore, Tpkhis’ Armenian Consistory was assigned to order Yelisavetpol’s spiritual powers to see to it that Hajishen’s demolished church and the graves surrounding it were preserved as sacred sites. In case the Armenians spending summers there wished to have a church for their spiritual needs, they could apply for a site and erect a new one.”

“Nor-Dar,” 1892, No. 113, p. 2.
National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 12, file 402.
“Ararat,” 1892, pp. 556-557.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 390.

In his letter addressed to the Government, the governor also stated that “...Hajishen’s dilapidated church was planned to be replaced by an Orthodox one, but its grave-yard was to be thoroughly preserved...” According to engineer I. Vardanov’s estimate, the amount necessary for the construction of a new church totaled 10,000 rubles.

National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 12, file 402.
“Tifliski Listok,” 1896, No. 90, p. 2.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 390.

1892 y․

Unfortunately, St. Hovhannes Church remained in the aforementioned state of utter dilapidation. Moreover, Priests Simeon Ter-Khachaturiants and Anania Shirakuny found the sanctuary and the local graves destroyed in October 1892: “...visiting the summer resort of Hajishen, we found the local church totally demolished by some Turks who were Persian subjects: Hasan Husein oghli, Akhmet Husein oghli, Tazakh Akhmet oghli, Hanep Mamat Ali oghli and Narzhap Mamat oghli. To our question who had told them to destroy it, they answered that Yelisavetpol’s architect Marchenko had ordered them to do so, appointing Dimitri Zamet from Gandzak, a follower of the Greek faith, to supervise their work. Marchenko had also paid them for the complete destruction of the church. The workers who were to build an enclosure around the site of the ruined church and the graves opposed the aforementioned supervisor’s involvement in the work. In the vicinity of the dilapidated church were uncovered another three cemeteries which were levelled with the ground, the remains of the deceased being scattered here and there...”

National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 12, file 402.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 390.

1894 y․

Fund-raising for the purpose of renovating the monument was also held in 1894.