Sourb Astvatzatzin Church :: ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Sourb Astvatzatzin Church

Azerbaijan / Northern Artsakh / Gandzak / Gandzak / Norashen

Location

Located in Norashen Quarter.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 50.

Description
1713 y․

It was one of the city’s main parish churches before the foundation of St. Grigor Lusavorich. In comparison with the other local sanctuaries, “...it was larger ... resting on six pillars.” Different visitors described the monument in their travelling notes, but it is Bishop Barkhutariants who provides data of special importance: “...tracing back to the year 1713 of the Armenian era, it represents a magnificent, large and high building of stone and mortar that is 26 1/2 metres long and 16 metres wide. The northern arches of the sanctuary, which rests on six pillars and has an antechamber, are cracked from the east to the west; that is why, some exterior abutments of stone and mortar have been added to it on the same side.”

Jalaliants, S. A Travel to Great Armenia, part 1, Tpghis, 1842, p. 172.
Barkhutariants, M. Artsakh. Baku, 1895, pp. 46-47. Presumably, Barkhutariants relies on a trustworthy source to mention the date of the construction of the church, but neither he nor any other scholar ever made reference to it.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 50.

19 c․

In the late 19th century, Priest Emmanuel Nazariants wrote the following about Sourb Astvatzatzin: “...Gandzak’s Norashen Quarter has quite a large church called Sourb Astvatzatzin. It represents a vaulted building of six stone pillars which is devoid of a dome. Its paved floor is covered with clean grass that is commonly used in the local sanctuaries, and a capert decorates the section in front of the bema. The hall where believers generally gather is large, the part of ladies being higher than that of men. This church has an impressive stone vestibule, above which a belfry stands: the former was built through Ghazar Teossiants’ means in 1889...”

Priest Emmanuel Nazariants. Impressions of Gandzak. In: “Nor-Dar,” 1899, No. 85, p. 2.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 50.

Repairs

Between 1854 and 1859, the roof of the sanctuary was renovated. The overhaul carried out in 1868 is commemorated in an inscription carved on a shrine donated to the church: transl.: This Holy Cross perpetuates the memory of Mnatsakan Grigoriants Vasakov, who donated this shrine with the thumb of Thaddaeus the Apostle ... His son Gevorg Vasakov had the church repaired in 1868. In the same year (1868), probably after the renovation, the sanctuary, where a certain Grigor served as priest, was plundered.

National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 3245, p. 8; fund 53, list 1, file 3830, pp. 81-82.
Barkhutariants, M. Artsakh. Baku, 1895, p. 47.
National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 5085, p. 1.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 50.

1890 y․

On permission granted by the spiritual powers, in the mid-1890s, fund-raising was initiated for the implementation of further repairs.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 50.

Historical Introduction
1895 y․

As stated in a press publication of 1895, “it is already about eight months since the church of Norashen Quarter closed due to the cracks of its vault.” The local inhabitants faced the necessity of replacing the decrepit building by another, but a group of specialists who conducted some studies there found it more expedient to repair it. Mahtesy Kerovbe Ter-Martirossiants, a merchant from Gandzak, made a large financial contribution of 500 rubles for that purpose.

“Nor-Dar,” 1895, No. 147, p. 2.
“Nor-Dar,” 1895, No. 116, p. 3.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 50.

Estates
1907 y․

In 1907 the estates of Sourb Astvatzatzin Church included the sites of Daylar Yeri, Ghuru-Ghobi and Uch-Tapa.

National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 1270, p. 9.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 50.

Priests
1889 y․

Anania (secular name: Smbat) Ter-Theodorossian Shirakuny was a graduate of the school of Khachakap’s Targmanchats Monastery, Dashkesan District, where his father, Archimandrite Theodoros Shirakuny, had taught him between 1866 and 1876. Being ordained on 21 January 1889, he served Kirants Village of Dashkesan District until 21 December 1893. Later he moved to Norashen’s Sourb Astvatzatzin on His Holiness Catholicos Mkrtich’s order. In 1892 Anania Ter-Theodorossian held the post of Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the one-year male school attached to the same sanctuary. He also taught the Armenian language in a municipal college and one of the local female schools in 1899. From 1902 until 1908, Anania Ter-Theodorossian served the local parishioners together with Yeznik (secular name: Mkrtich) Harutiunian Zerkiniants. The latter served Sourb Astvatzatzin from the very day of his ordination, namely 28 April 1902.

National Archives of Armenia, fund 461, list 1, file 12, pp. 45-48, 52.
National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 817, p. 6.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, pp. 50-51.