Ախալցխայի Երեւման Սուրբ Խաչ եկեղեցին | church of yerevman surb khach...
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Ախալցխայի Երեւման Սուրբ Խաչ եկեղեցինՀակոբ Սիմոնյան, Հովյաննես ՍանամյանАхалцихская церковь Еревман Сурб Хач (Явления Святого Креста)Акоп Симонян, Оганнес СанамянChurch of Yerevman Surb Khach (Revelation St. Cross) in AkhaltskhaHakob SimonyanPhD of Art and History, Scientific Research Center for the Historical and Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture of RA, Yerevan, [email protected] Hovhannes SanamyanScientific Research Center for the Historical and Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture of RA, Yerevan, [email protected] In 2010 the wall masonry of he sacristy of Church Yerevman Sb. Khach (Revelation St. Cross) in Akhaltskha, khachkars (cross-stones) with Armenian inscriptions were revealed. The newly found lithography confirms the idea proposed by the academician M. Brosset in the XIX c. that the Armenian church Sb. Khach was founded in mediaeval ages. It it certain that in the XI-XIII centuries there were no Catholics communities in Caucasus; therefore it is obvious that Sb. Khach was built as an Armenian Apostolic church. IN the XVII-XVIII cc. it was restored and functioned as a religious center for the Armenian Catholic community. But completely ignoring the international norms for restoration of the monuments, the once again rebuilt church was re-anointed as a Georgian Catholic church of St. Rozeyri.During the restoration work all the Armenian khachkars and Armenian inscription in the masonry of the church walls were taken away, damaged on in some cases simply disappeared. Among them was the unique khachkar of Christian significance on which the oldest image of the hectogram and an Armenian inscription of 1381, mentioning the name of Mogen David as a symbol of King David was cut.The presence of great number of Armenian khachkars both in the church and around the fort not far from the church, are evidence, that since the middle ages there existed a strong Armenian community in Akhaltskha, and the myth that Armenians came to Samtskhe only after the agreement signed in the city of Karin in 1839, is fictitious.TRANSCRIPT
