Sourb Amenaprkich Monastery :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Sourb Amenaprkich Monastery

Azerbaijan / Northern Artsakh / Shamkhor / Nukzar

Location

At the south-western extremity of the village site, the monastery of Sourb Amenaprkich is located.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 510.

Historical Introduction

The exact date of the foundation of the sanctuary is unknown.

The contemporary topographical sources trace it back to the 12th century (Dictionary of Toponymy of Armenia and Adjacent Territories, vol. 4, Yerevan, 1998, p. 36).
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 510.

17 c․

There are no available bibliographical records concerning the sanctuary. Its inscriptions published previously come to suggest that it served as a bishop residence in the 17th century.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 510.

Description
1853 y․

A record, dating back to 28 September 1853, reveals that the sanctuary, which was in an inconsolable state, did not function any more: “...the ruined monastery called Sourb Amenaprkich is situated near the villages of Hartshangist, Nunguzar and Gulambar, Yelizavetpol District. ...The period when it was an important sanctuary with a large monastic community, bishops and priors, is consigned to history now. It is only the church that has been preserved standing, whereas the other buildings, including the dwellings and its enclosure, are either semi-destroyed or in a sate of utter dilapidation.”

National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 2742, p. 17.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, pp. 510-511.

19 c․

The records left by some topographers who saw the monastery in the late 19th century come to prove the aforementioned: “The church represents a small but magnificent stone building with its roof destroyed. Adjoined by a small, vaulted gavit, it has three vestries on its right and left... The sanctuary, once fortified by stone ramparts, used to have a creamery in the east and some monastic dwellings in the west: at present their ruins are the only reminders of their existence.”

“Ardzagank,” 1886, No. 21, p. 307.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 510.

The monastic complex of Sourb Amenaprkich consisted of a church, an adjoining gavit, some monastic cells, as well as an enclosure and a number of annexes. It also included a cemetery lying at the slope of a nearby hill, whence several cross-stones were moved and set into the walls of the church and gavit.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 511.

1984 y․

In 1984 the other buildings, forming part of Sourb Amenaprkich Monastery, lay in total devastation.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 512.

Estates
19 c․

In the early 19th century, the estates of Sourb Amenaprkich comprised Karmir Vank of Gyulambar Village and several adjacent villages.

National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 596, p. 1.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 512.

1840 y․

In 1840 “Amenaprkich Monastery, that had been stripped of its monastic community, had a ruined creamery and fifty oravars of non-arable land...”

National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3798, pp. 64-65.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 512.

1853 y․

A register of 1853 states, “...the dominions of Amenaprkich and Karmir Monasteries, that hold possession of many nearby villages, include a road called Elchi in the east (it borders on the sanctuary from the side of Baghshek Village); the river Shamkor in the west; the site of Papi Gomer in the south, and Nunguzar Village in the north...”

National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 2742, p. 17.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 512.

1860 — 1886 yy․

The sanctuary, which had a forest and some arable land between 1860 and 1862, preserved the same estates in 1886.

National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3834, p. 25-26, file 3836, pp. 45-46.
National Archives of Armenia, fund 56ä, list 18, file 138.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 512.

1910 y․

A register of Gandzak’s monastic dominions made up in 1910 states, “This ancient monastery, at present serving as a pilgrimage site under the guardianship of the nearby parish priests, is absolutely devoid of any industrial estates and seems derelict and forsaken to a passer-by.”

National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 6, file 775, p. 26.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 513.

Lapidary Inscriptions
1984 y․

During our visit to the sanctuary in 1984, we found only a single surviving inscription, the other two having, fortunately, been published in due time.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 513.

Type Photo
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1980 — 1982 yy․

The entrance of the gavit opening from its northern facade

Type Photo
View Exterior
Direction From the north-west
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1980 — 1982 yy․