Non-Armenian Historic-Cultural Monuments in Syunik
There are not many non-Armenian historic-cultural Monuments in
Syunik Province /Marz/ of Armenia. They are located near the towns of
Kapan, Meghri, Sisian, and are mostly Muslim cemeteries, mausoleums,
mosques the greater part of which is included in the state list of
historic-cultural monuments of Syunik. Overall, seven non-Armenian
monuments are registered in the Marz, six of which are Muslim. The only
non-Armenian Christian monument is the Greek church of Bashkend. The
“Historical Environment and Historical-Cultural Museum Preserves
Protection Service' NCSO of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia is taking
care of the maintenance of the monuments which are regarded as state
property. “The province is divided into 26 maintenance areas, where
monuments are maintained by 26 monument guards. In accordance with the
tour schedule prepared and approved in advance, monuments are cleaned
and maintained. It makes no difference whether or not a monument is
Armenian. We don’t make any difference between the monuments and take
care of them equally within the limits of possibilities of the state,”
says
Astghik Hakobyan, Chief of the regional service. The
regional service provides a report every quarter to the “Historical
Environment and Historical-Cultural Museum Preserves Protection Service'
NCSO. The reports submit information also on the most endangered
monuments of the Marz. “There is a big number of endangered Armenian
monuments in Syunik. But, along with these monuments, we submit as well
the list of the endangered non-Armenian monuments, and the dynamics of
deterioration of their conditions. Another thing is that the state does
not have big opportunities for restorations works,” says Astghik
Hakobyan.
Armenian and Azeri people have lived side by
side in Lehvaz village of Meghri town till ‘80s of the 20th century. The
75% of the population of the village was Azeri, while today, Armenian
refugees from different parts of Azerbaijan inhabit the village. In
Lezvah, you can see
the monument to fallen soldiers of Lezvah in the World War II,
and only 8 out of 49 names engraved on it are Armenian. The Armenians,
who have been deported from Azerbaijan and now live in Lezvah, treat
that monument with respect. “Here, the villagers organize not only the
May 9 celebrations, but many other events. Recently, the Meghri City
Hall has placed new benches near the monument,” says Artyusha Alexanyan,
a 60-year-old resident of the village.
Not far from the village, on the left bank of Meghri River, there is an
Azeri cemetery of 18-20 centuries, in the center of which there is an octahedral-shaped mausoleum dating back to 18-19 centuries.
It has been regarded as state property since 2006. Many of Lezvah
residents remember that Azeris used to hold religious rites there. Seven
years ago, the cemetery and the mausoleum made part of the area of the
Lichavaz-Tea gold mining workshop. Since then, this historic-cultural
territory has been fenced off for maintenance reasons. The dilapidated
Muslim mausoleum is still standing there, and you can see many tombs
around it.
At 15 km from Shvanidzor village of Meghri, in a cozy forest angle, took shelter the
Baba-Hajji holy place.
Grigor Poghosyan
from Shvanidzor remembers how, during the Soviet Union years, the
Armenians used to visit that holy place with Azeris to make animal
sacrifices there. They say, once residents of two neighboring Armenian
and Turkish villages got into a fight. The leaders of the groups were an
Armenian called Baba and a Turkish called Hajji. In order to end the
years-long fight, Baba and Hajji made peace and built the holy place,
since then, the two villages with people of two different nationalities
have always lived in peace and solidarity. According to another story,
in order to save themselves from the Turks, the residents of the
Armenian village would climb the nearest mountain. With the purpose of
breaking through the Armenians’ defense, the enemy would cut off the
water having found the pipes with the help of an old woman. So they
would take horses where the pipes were supposed to be and the horses,
hearing the water sound, would start digging the soil. Left without
water, the Armenians would give in. So, they say, that in the sign of
victory, the Turks built the Baba-Hajji holy place. The traces of the
water pipe are still visible. The people of Shvanidzor don’t know
whether the holy place is of Persian, Turkish or Azeri origin since
Armenians used to call all their Muslim neighbors Turks.
There is a building in Kapan’s Achanan village (former Khalaj)
with an inscription in Persian on its façade proving it was built in
1316 (Persian Chronology) which matches the year 695 (7th century) of
the Armenian chronology. The inscription has mossed with time rendering
it more difficult to read. But Village Head Vache Avetisyan, whose
daughter, Hasmik, is an orientalist, says that the inscription cites
some parts of the Koran, which means once that place was a holy place.
But the former Azeri residents of Achanan never used that building as a
holy place, but only as a warehouse for the village. Armenian refugees,
who currently live there, also use the building as a warehouse, if
necessary, but, at the same time, they take care of it. “Yesterday, I
noticed a stone is missing from the wall. We need to put it back for
sure,” says the Village Head. Villagers have reconstructed the roof for
several times but it goes to pieces with age.
The cemetery of 36 Romanian prisoners of war of World War II
is situated in the suburban Shgharshik district of Kapan. So far, it
has not been entered on the list of the state maintained areas, but A.
Hakobyan assures that the data on the monument have already been sent to
the Ministry of Culture, and soon it will also be included in the list.
But, before, ten years ago, the commissioner of the district Shahen
Babayants initiated an agreement with the Embassy of Germany to Armenia,
in accordance with which, the embassy supports the maintenance of the
monument. “We applied to them, they came, studied and assumed the task
of helping us in the preservation and renovation of the monument,” says
the commissioner of the district. If necessary, from time to time, the
pupils, individuals of the district also participate in the cleaning
activities.
On the western edge of the Aghitu village
, an Azeri mosque adjoined by a cemetery is located on the hillside to the right from Aghitu-Sisian road.
It is included in the list of areas maintained by the state. The
inscriptions on the preserved tombstones and the façade of the mosque
are in Arabic since, before the establishment of the Soviet Union, the
Azeris used the Arabic script for writing. The Aghitu people know
nothing about the mosque. They just say that years ago, the former
secretary of their village head explored the history of the mosque and
the tombstones, but the work was left incomplete at his untimely death.
Village head
Hrachik Hayrapetyan assures that the former Azeri
inhabitants of the village used it as a holy place. “Villagers have
adapted to the existence of the cemetery which has already become an
inseparable part of the village. Why do people need to fight with
stones? I think it’s ignorance, a mistake. If you have problems, you
need to fight with people and not the stones,” says the Village head.
Another ram statue with an inscription in Arabic is placed in front of
the Rural Municipality. “
It’s a beautiful ram statue. So what if it has an Arabic inscription on it?” says the school director Suren Blbulyan.
There is another
Muslim cemetery in a different district of Sisian, Vorotan (former Urut),
which also has numerous Arabic tombstones. They are situated a short
distance from Melik-Tangu bridge. This cemetery of 19-20 centuries is
also maintained by the state.
There are other
cemeteries in Kapan town, more precisely in Kirs, Karut and Geghi. We
meet Muslim tombstones also 12 km northeast of Nrnadzor village, in the former Armenian Yrnadzor village.
“You
will see no ill-treatment of monuments by the villagers. No attempt to
destroy, harm or damage the monument has been ever reported. We’re
always watchful to prevent any agricultural or construction works in the
proximity of the monuments,” says the deputy head of Syunik Service for
the Protection of Historical Environment
Aram Davtyan.
The
holy places and cemeteries in the territory of Syunik, even if they are
not preserved by the state, are safe and maintained anyway. Being
Muslim, they don’t serve as holy places to the villagers of neighboring
communities, but, at the same time, they are never exposed to vandalism.
With due respect to others’ holy places, we, Armenians, want to support
the preservation of Armenian monuments spread across the world.
Greek Church of Bashkend
The
only dilapidated high-dome Greek Church located 4 km from the suburban
Kavart district of Kapan town is the only speechless witness of once
prosperous Bashkend settlement. It is the unique non-Armenian Christian
historic-cultural monument, which is on the list of state-maintained
monuments. It stands out for its unique architectural form and creative
solutions. The Bashkend church, to which the local people refer as the
Greeks’ church, can really be retained as a unique piece of art. It was
built in 1865 in dark umber tuff, which is supposed to have been brought
from abroad. “This stone of the Bashkend church is used in the
construction of no other building in our parts. The color of this stone
is very interesting which creates a beautiful play of colors. It is
assumed to have been brought from Karabakh, Shushi. The ore was
transported by camels and pack animals from Kavart to Kirovabad, Yevlakh
station, and probably, they have brought the stone from Shushi. The
Armenians didn’t have camels. The Persians used to immigrate here to
work taking along their camels. The Greeks were merely engaged in mining
industry,” says Vigen Tsatryan, Ministry of Culture, History and
Culture Monuments Protection Agency, Head of Department of Syunik and
Vayots Dzor. Architect Yurik Gevorgyan, describing the architecture of
the church of Bashkend, notes: “It is a domed basilica in the shape of a
rectangle having an internal semi-circle shape, one tabernacle, two
semi-circle sentries (also from outside) and a two-storey chapel. Once a
copper tile roof covered both the church and the arrow-shaped dome. The
roof of the mitre-shaped and eight-faceted chapel is also made of
copper. The walls are built of tuff and basalt, the exterior stonework
is polished. The walls are covered with plaster from inside. Window
width is edged with yellowish limestone. The cornices are also made of
yellowish limestone. The eight-faceted dome is leaning on a drum on
which the cupola sits resting together on four 50 cm diameter round
pillars. The pavement of the church including the sanctuary is made of
natural flagstones. The external walls are largely built of 30 cm high
natural tuff stones. The entrance is on the West side of the church.”
Razmik Kostandyan,
who is originally from Kavart, says that once the church was provided
with a water supply system. The water arrived to Kavart through clay
water pipes which are still in place. All the strand stones of the
church are connected to one another by iron channels. Specialists think
that the constructors did a high quality work thanks to which the church
is still standing even after having passed many trials. This technology
is an old Armenian one which was used in the construction of huge
buildings. Since the church area is an emergency site, during the Soviet
years, the church was reinforced with iron bands by the Kapan Mining
Enrichment Combine. “In that period, the adjacent mines were largely
operated, explosions were carried out almost every day which could
result in the collapse of the church,” says R. Kostandyan.
Bashkend
Bashkend:
the name is translated into Armenian as “big village” or “main
village”. It’s located on Vorsasar Mountain. According to the
information that has reached us, the village was the town of Greek
coppersmith brothers Kondurov who came here in the ‘40s of the 19th
century from Trabzon. Brother Kondurovs invited 128 Greek workers,
mainly youths, from the Western Armenia to work in the mines. Later on,
they married Greek girls who had come from Western Armenia too. The most
famous of the seven brothers, Kharlamp Kondurov, nicknamed Master
Alaverdi, built in 1865 the Bashkend Orthodox Church. This fact is
testified by the
façade stone of the church which fell down a few years ago and is currently deposited in Kapan Geological Museum.
The
Greek coppersmiths had lived in Bashkend for 73 years, when they
underwent mass deportation in 1918-21, in the period of the revolution
and civil war. Bashkend had stayed empty for some years before 20
Armenian families moved to this village. In 1924, the new people of
Bashkend started working in the mines. Forced by an accident on May 5,
1957, Bashkend people had to leave the village. Mrs Satenik, when
working her land, was killed in a landslide on that day. A hole deep
10-12 meters appeared there. Rescuers found Satenik’s body only after
four days of searching. After this tragedy, the people of Bashkend moved
to Kapan. In 1960s, more landslides were reported in the territory of
the church. All the houses of the village except of the half-ruined
church were destroyed. The village and surrounding territories, total
area of 75 thousand cubic meters, were fenced and declared a “danger
zone”. Though the Bashkend Church is among the monuments maintained by
the state, it is nonetheless not maintained due to its dangerous
location.
The fate of the church is endangered
Moving
the Bashkend church is a necessity. In the result of years-long
explosions in the mines nearby, the church has appeared in an emergency
zone and is in danger of collapsing.
A research conducted
by architect Yurik Gevorgyan within the frameworks of the Scoop
Caucasus project came to confirm the deteriorating state of the church.
According to expert conclusions, the church’s wall cracks have widened
by 0.5-1.0 cm in four years which is the consequence of the absence of a
roof and active influence of the climate and nature. “You can see
cracks wide 1-2 cm at the bottom of the eastern part of the circular
altar which spread up to the cornice of the roof becoming wide 5-6 cm.
The same cracks are spread over the entire wall length towards the
internal part of the altar. Stones are missing from the window arcade.
The
eastern sector of the Southern front has 2-3 cm cracks which are spread
across the entire wall height. In the same part, the roof, as well as
the cornices of the pediment, are missing. You can see similar cracks on
the southern and northern walls of the western front. Irregularly
spread cracks sized 1-3 cm 1 m far from each other are found near the
window of the northern wall”, is said in the expert conclusions.
In
2007, Deno Gold Mining Company, former Kapan Mine Enrichment Plant,
planned to move the church and applied to the relevant bodies. But,
after some geological works, the company cancelled the license and
refused dealing with the church issues though some documents on the
financial means necessary for moving the church had already been worked
out. According to experts, at least AMD 300 million will be necessary to
move the church. The Control Service of the Prime Minister of the
Republic of Armenia took an interest in this issue as well. The list of
the most damaged monuments of the Syunik Service for the Protection of
Historical Environment hosts the Bashkend church too, but due to the
scarce state financial means, this issue is not solved. Sponsors, who
would be able to support the moving of the Bahskend church, which,
according to experts, is possible, need to be found. According to Yurik
Gevorgyan, there are small parts, fragments of monuments, which enable
the restoration of the full image of the church. “The church is located
in a dangerous zone facing collapse. It already leans a little.
Conditions are unfavorable for the further survival of the church. It is
advisable to take apart the church there, numerate the key cohesive
stones, transport and rebuild it in another place”, says Yurik
Gevorgyan.
The beauty of the church of Bashkend is a
magnet for everyone. It is so beautiful even from afar. In spite of
being a Greek church, Kapan people love it and worry about its future.
Formerly, Armenians also lighted candles and prayed in Bashkend church.
Today, few Greek people live in the region, but despite their great
desire, they are afraid to enter the church. Meghri-born Greek
Artyusha Alexanyan’s
father, Yurinka Alexandr Kandaziri, was born in 1897 in Bashkend.
During Soviet years, he changed his surname into Kandazov, later
Kandazyan. Then Artyusha decided to become Alexanyan, after his
grandfather. Artyusha Alexanyan has visited Bashkend a few times; he
marveled at the beauty of it, but he is sorry that since the place is
dangerous, he has to admire it only from afar.
Famous
French political-military officer Charles de Gaulle, who served as the
first president of France in 1959-1969, is supposed to have been born in
Bashkend on November 22, 1890. Razmik Kostandyan, 73, from Kavart,
remembers people talking as if Charles de Gaulle wanted to return and
see his birthplace. They also say he intended to take care of the
church. But, he has never visited Bashkend for some reason.
Commissioner of Kavart district
Gagik Khachatryan
heard from his grandfathers that the places where churches are built
are never chosen accidentally, so even if moved, the church should not
be taken to far from its original location. For this reason, Kavart
people have already chosen the new location of the church. “It is a very
good place. The church will be visible from the neighboring Norashenik,
Arajadzor and Khotanan villages. So what if the church is not Armenian?
It’s all the same the house of God, and we are Christians, we will go
on a pilgrimage there,” say the Kavart villagers. They decided to close
the road in case the church is moved to a different location from the
one they have chosen. Razmik Kostandyan says, once there was a famous
Armenian church in Kavart, St. Sargis, where Sparapet Garegin Nzhdeh was
anointed. During the Soviet Union, it was blown up by the state and
since then no other church has been ever built in this district. People
say the man, who blew it up, died short after the explosion. “Building a
new church in the district costs much. We will agree if the Bashkend
church is transferred here. We are Christians, we will pray there and
make it our holy place”, says the commissioner of the district.
Gohar Isakhanyan
This investigation is done with support from the Danish Association for Investigative Journalism /Scoop.
