Sourb Astvatzatzin (Holy Virgin) Church :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Sourb Astvatzatzin (Holy Virgin) Church 19 c․

Georgia / Javakhk / Akhalkalak / Ghulalis

Location

Sourb Astvatzatzin (Holy Virgin) Church stands in the middle of the village.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 353.

Historical Introduction
19 c․

It was built in the site of a ruined medieval sanctuary in the late 19th century.

1894 — 1921 yy․

The existing archive documents mention it by different names such as St. Stepanos (1894), Sourb Astvatzatzin (1899 to 1910) and Sourb Lusavorich (1921).

Հայաստանի ազգային դիվան (National Archives of Armenia), ֆ. 22, ց. 1, գ. 298; ֆ. 53, ց. 1, գ. 3903, գ. 3917; ֆ. 355, ց. 1, գ. 895: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 353.

1903 y․

As of 1903, the inhabitants of Ghulalis were busy with the renovation of the monument.

«Արարատ., 1903, էջ 437: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 353.

Architectural Description

Sourb Astvatzatzin represents a uni-nave building of a wooden roof. It does not have sacristies, but it retains the font in its traditional place, viz. in its northern wall. Originally, its vaulted roof, which was built of stone, used to rest upon a pair of pilasters. The entrances to the sanctuary open from its western and southern facades.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, pp. 353-354.

Description

The walls of the church retain both funerary memorials and fragments belonging to the older sanctuary once existing in its site.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 354.

Inscription, Georgian Mesropian, Embossed, Commemoration 1060 y․

A stone, set near the eastern corner of the southern facade of the monument, bears seven lines carved in embossed characters in the Georgian Mesropian script:
Transl.: Oh You, Jesus Christ! May You glorify King [and] Sevastos of Abkhazians and Kartvels Bagrat and his son Giorgi Kyurapaghat. May You help [them] and sweeten their heads. May You bestow blessings upon Teodos’s son, who is a consul. I erected this church for their might [and power in the year] 280 (1060) of the Chronicon.

Published in: Ростомов И., Ахалкалакский уезд в археологическом отношении.– Сборник Материалов для Описания Местностей и Племен Кавказа, вып. XXV, 1898, стр. 76. Такайшвили Е., Археологическая экспедиция 1971-го года в южные провинции Грузии, Тбилиси, 1952, стр. 26-27. ცისკარიშვილი ვ., idem, pp. 39-40: ბერძენიშვილი ნ., idem, p. 61: “ჯავახეთი. ისტორიულ-ხუროთმოძღვრული გზამკვლევი”, էջ 43: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 354. Note: V. Tsiskarishvili re-published E. Taghayshvili’s decipherment, with some brief notes relating to its dating. N. Berdzenishvili offers ჯავახეთი. “ჯავახეთი. ისტორიულ-ხუროთმოძღვრული გზამკვლევი” has ჲესჳ, დაუტკბენ თუალნი, პეტს თოდს ძეს ...ერთს განსაძლიერებლად, ქორონიკონი იყო სპ. The inscription, which is dated 1060, makes reference to King Bagrat IV (1027 to 1072) and his son Giorgi II (1072 to 1089).

Type Copied Lapidary Inscription
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Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Graphical Drawing

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

Cross Relief, High Relief

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

A cross relief belonging to the church built in 1060

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

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

Type Measurement
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Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Sketch