St. Matthew Church :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

St. Matthew Church 10 — 11 cc․

Georgia / Javakhk / Akhalkalak / Azavret

Location

The church of St. Matthew (Mark the Evangelist) stands in the north of Azavret.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 38.

Historical Introduction
10 — 11 cc․

It dates from the 10th to 11th centuries, and most probably, at first functioned in accordance with the Byzantine ritual. The Armenians of Karin who resettled in the devastated site of the village during the period between the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as in the 1830s consecrated the sanctuary as an Armenian Apostolic one (for the last time, it was dedicated to St. Matthew), and started using it as a parish church.

Հայաստանի ազգային դիվան, (National Archives of Armenia), ֆ. 53, ց. 1, գ. 457, թ. 42-67: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 38.

Some of the available archive documents also mention it by the name of St. Mark the Evangelist. It served the local community for almost four decades, until the construction of a new parochial church in 1868.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 38.

Description

This church (exterior dimensions: 12.20 x 10.40 metres, including an adjoining hall), which represents a fine specimen of architecture, is now in a semi-ruined condition, and only its walls are preserved standing.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 38.

Inscription, Georgian Mesropian, Engraved, Commemoration

Internally, the northern wall of the church retains a three-line inscription in Georgian Mesropian characters:
ო(ჳფალ)ო ... თდ | ჲამს[მ]? | შ(ეე)წ(ი)ე. Transl.: Lord... help.

Published in: Ростомов И., Ахалкалакский уезд в археологическом отношении.– Сборник Материалов для Описания Местностей и Племен Кавказа, вып. XXV, 1898, с. 30: ცისკარიშვილი ვ., idem, pp. 122-123; ბერძენიშვილი ნ., idem, p. 155; “ჯავახეთი. ისტორიულ-ხუროთმოძღვრული გზამკვლევი”,էջ 73: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 38. Note: V. Tsiskarishvili re-published I. Rostomashvili’s version of the inscription, offering the following decipherment for it: “უფალო თედოჲ (თევდორეჲ?) ამის მ(აშენებელი) შეეწიე (შეიწყალე?)”: (transl.: “God, may You help its builder Tedo (Tevdore)”). N. Berdzenishvili read only three letters /ams/ in its second line and deciphered it as ‘mamas’ (father). The editorial staff of “ჯავახეთი. ისტორიულ-ხუროთმოძღვრული გზამკვლევი" presented Tsiskarishvili’s version of the decipherment of the inscription: უფალო, თევდორეჲ - ამის მაშენებელი შეიწყალე:V. Silogava considers this inscription, preserved on the wall of the ancient church of Azavret, contemporary of the Georgian Mesropian ones found in Alastan, and traces it back to the 10th to 11th centuries (see სილოგავა ვ., მრავალთავი, ვიი, თბილისი, 1980, էջ 171):

Type Copied Lapidary Inscription
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Graphical Drawing

Type Photo
View Partial view
Direction From the south-east
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Type Photo
View Exterior
Direction From the south-west
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Type Photo
View Partial view
Direction From the west
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Type Photo
View Partial view
Direction From the east
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Type Photo
View Detail
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Its eastern window.

Type Photo
View Partial view
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Portico

Type Photo
View Partial view
Direction From the east
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

The notched-cornice portico of the church of St. Matthew (Mark the Evangelist) seen from the east.

Type Photo
View Detail
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

A set-in-wall capital.

Type Photo
View Partial view
Direction From the south-west
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

A partial view of the intramural arches adjoining the north-western corner of the church.

Type Measurement
View `
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Sketch

Type Photo
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Name	Year/Century	Etymology
Mark the Evangelist