Church :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Church 14 — 15 cc․

Georgia / Javakhk / Akhalkalak / Varevan

Historical Introduction
14 — 15 cc․

According to N. Berdzenishvili, the sanctuary was erected between the 14th and 15th centuries.

ბერძენიშვილი ნ., idem, p. 169: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 482.

Architectural Description

The former represents a uni-nave monument built of entirely finely-finished (outwardly) and hewn (inwardly) stones and mortar. It has a single entrance opening from its southern facade.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 482.

Inscription, Georgian Mesropian, Engraved, Commemoration

The inscription, which is extremely weathered and distorted, reads:
†. სახელითა ღმ(რთი)ს(ა)ითა მ(ე)ოხე|[ბითა]... Transl.: In the name of God, with the intercession...

Published in: ბერძენიშვილი ნ., idem, p. 170: “ჯავახეთი. ისტორიულ-ხროთმოძღვრული გზამკვლევი”, էջ 57: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 483. Note: I. Rostomashvili, who is the first scholar to have attempted the decipherment of the inscription, writes the following about its state of preservation: “The inscription is so badly weathered that only several of its letters have survived.” N. Berdzenishvili, however, declares what I. Rostomashvili righteously considers weathered as deliberately scraped away: “This inscription was erased by the inhabitants of Khando when they had a quarrel with the Georgians of Varevan over the arable lands of Vardistsikhe: the latter wanted to take possession of them due to the fact that Vardistsikhe used to represent a Georgian place in times bygone.” N. Berdzenishvili finds some stylistic similarity between this inscription and the one found in Kartseb, and traces it back to the time-span between the 14th and 15th centuries. “ჯავახეთი. ისტორიულ-ხუროთმოძღვრული გზამკვლევი” attributes it to the 13th to 14th centuries.

Type Copied Lapidary Inscription
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Non-Specified

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

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

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

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

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

Its entrance opening from its southern facade

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

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

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

Type Measurement
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Sketch