Sourb Srtin Hisus (to Jesus’ Sacred Heart) Church

Sourb Srtin Hisus (to Jesus’ Sacred Heart) Church 1840 y․

Georgia / Javakhk / Aspindza / Khezabavra

Foundation

The Armenian Catholic church named Sourb Srtin Hisusi (to Jesus’ Sacred Heart, as translated literally from Armenian), otherwise also known by the name of Sourb Astvatzatzin, was founded in 1840: “...built of stone and dedicated to the Holy Virgin in 1840.”

«Արձագանք», 1885, N 26, էջ 368։ Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 235.

Repairs
1900 y․

In 1900 the sanctuary underwent thorough reconstruction: “...on 25 June, the consecration of the newly-built Armenian Catholic church of Khizabavra Village of our district was held. As we have heard, its construction took about 12 thousand roubles, 9 thousand of which had been collected by the Armenian Catholics of Caucasia and Constantinople, and the remaining three thousand had been borrowed. ...The inscription, carved on the facade of this newly-erected church, is only in Latin and Georgian: there is not a single Armenian letter in it, although divine service is to be conducted in the Armenian language in this sanctuary, just as in the older one.” The fact that the inscription was not engraved in Armenian was viewed as something inexplicable and unusual in those times, the blame for it being laid on the local pro-Georgian Armenian Catholic priest: “The priest of Khizabavra Village of this district, whose name used to be Vardzelian, but later changed into Vardzelov, his surname now being Vardzelashvili, travelled throughout Russia, Constantinople and even reached Rome to collect means for the construction of another church in the aforementioned Armenian Catholic village. Having completed it within some 4 to 5 years, no one knows on whose advice, he had an inscription carved on its facade in the Georgian and Latin languages. This aroused indignation among the Armenian Catholic priests within his jurisdiction and even amidst the common people. Hearing about his impudent demeanour, Patriarch Azarian ordered to have this inscription scraped away. Finding himself driven into corner, Vardzelashvili decided to save the situation by lies. Travelling through all the Armenian Catholic villages of the district, he assured the local priests that he had already ordered the obliteration of the inscription and thus succeeded in making several of them put their signatures to a document allegedly confirming that the Georgian inscription of Khizabavra Village, which had been engraved by mistake, was no longer there...” Azarian’s death saved this Vardzelian-Vardzelashvili, who had primarily been a shop-keeper and had applied to Archimandrite Araratiants for admission into a spiritual school intended for Armenian Catholics: “...as a Catholic Armenian, he bore the family name of Vardzelian and was later ordained by an Armenian name. Today this same person acts behind another cloak and considers himself a Georgian. [We can conclude that] either he deceived Araratiants in those times or is presently in disguise.”

«Մշակ», 1900, N 124, էջ 2, N 180, էջ 2: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, pp. 235-236.

Description

As reported by a press publication, the Armenians of Alastan donated more than 500 roubles for the construction of the church of Khezabavra. Moreover, they provided the workers with lime absolutely free of charge. An Armenian from the same village gave the future church an icon costing 800 roubles. In response to the wave of criticism against him that burst out in the press, “Mikhail Vardzelashvili, Archpriest of the Armenian Catholic churches located on the borderline of Akhalkalak, as well as the parish priest of the church, declared that the construction of the sanctuary had cost not 12,000, but 30,000 roubles. The gifts it had received hardly amounted to 500 roubles; 2,000 roubles had been donated by his own relatives, and 1,000 roubles by the Imperial Palace.

«Մշակ», 1900, N124, էջ 2, N 154, էջ 2: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 236.

The newly-completed church was consecrated under the name of Sourb Srtin Hisusi. Its roof was tiled in 1914.

«Օրացոյց եւ պատկեր տօնից», Թիֆլիս, 1916, էջ 81, նաև` Հայաստանի ազգային դիվան, (National Archives of Armenia), ֆ. 316, ց. 1, գ. 102, թ. 33։ Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 236.

As of 2006, the monument stood in a good state of preservation. It retains two Georgian inscriptions—one carved on its southern wall, and the other on the western facade of its belfry (the latter is mostly distorted and difficult to read despite its being not so very old).

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 236.

Inscription, Georgian, Engraved, Construction 1898 y․

Five lines in the Armenian original engraved on the southern wall of the church:
აღაშენდა რომის კატოლიკეთა ეკკლესია | [ღმრთის] მშო(ბ)ლისა თაოსნობითა მიხაელ მღდ(ელი) | ვარძელაშვილისა და ხიზაბავრისსა ზომად|ოებისა კავკაზის და კახეთის(?) კათოლ|იკების შემწეობითა წელ(სა) უფ(ლისა) 1898 სა Transl.: The church of the Roman Catholics was built by the grace of the Holy Virgin, through the efforts of Mikhail Vardzelashvili and the inhabitants of Khezabavra [as well as] with the assistance of the Catholics of Caucasia and KakhetIA (?) in the year 1898 A. D.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, pp. 236-237.

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

The Georgian inscription commemorating the construction of the Church of Sourb Srtin Hisusi (to Jesus’ Sacred Heart) in 1898

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

Type Photo
View Exterior
Direction From the south-west
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

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

The inscription recently set on the western facade of its belfry

Type Photo
View Interior
Direction From the east
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

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

The font placed in its northern wall, as is traditionally accepted in the ritual of the Armenian Apostolic Church

Type Photo
View Partial view
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative
Date 2005 y․

A partial view of the enclosure of cross-stones built in the 1990s

Type Photo
View Partial view
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative
Date 2005 y․

A partial view of the enclosure of cross-stones built in the 1990s

Type Photo
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative
Date 2002 y․

Name	Year/Century	Etymology
Sourb Astvatzatzin