Bath-House :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Bath-House

Azerbaijan / Northern Artsakh / Gandzak / Gandzak / Kilisakyand

Location

The old bath-house of the city, that belonged to St. Hovhannes Church, was located north of it: “It is already several years since a bath-house was built in the site of a deserted garden adjoining the churchyard in the north. Erected through the sanctuary’s own means, it is rented out to different private individuals...”

“Krunk Hayots Ashkhari,” 1861, p. 359.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 36.

Historical Introduction
1854 y․

According to an archive document, in 1854 the church spent 2,472 rubles from its budget “for the construction of baths...”

National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3825, p. 75.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 36.

The income yielded by the bath was used to meet the needs of the parish school of St. Hovhannes Church so that when it closed in 1892 due to its old age, the Spiritual Council of the sanctuary decided to replace it by another. The new bath-house was founded in 1894, its walls being erected up to the arches in the same year. According to an estimate of expenditures made up by Baku-based engineer Michael Hunanian, the construction required 17,734 rubles 50 kopecks. By 1895, however, that sum had already been spent, and another 8,282 rubles was still necessary for the completion of the project. A record of 1899 states that “...Gandzak has two baths with heating facilities: one belongs to a certain Tziralian, and the other to the church of St. Hovhannes...”

National Archives of Armenia, fund ä 56, list 18, file 245, pp. 1-2, 6-9.
“Nor-Dar,” 1899, No. 81, p. 3.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 36.

1899 y․

Between 1899 and 1900, the newly-erected bath-house was rented out by 2,200 rubles. From 1901 until 1904, Mahtesy Harutiun Martirossian worked it by an annual payment of 2,765 rubles. Remaining under his control until 1911, the bath was put up to auction in November of the same year.

National Archives of Armenia, fund Պ461, list 1, file 11, pp. 7-8, 20-21; file 26, pp. 4-5.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 36.