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Lernakert ( Armenian Լեռնակերտ ), former names Schirwan (English transcription Shirvan ), Schirwandschuk ( Shirvandzhug ), is a high-altitude village in the north-west Armenian province of Shirak, characterized by cattle breeding . Its history goes back to early Christian times. Several old residential buildings with elaborately designed ashlar masonry are remarkable. In the center of the village is the best preserved hall church in the country from the 5th or 6th century.
location
Coordinates: 40 ° 34 ′ 1 ″ N , 43 ° 56 ′ 10 ″ E
Lernakert is located on a treeless, grass-covered highland at an altitude of 2012 meters ( Schartenhöhe 1990 meters) on the northwestern foothills of Mount Aragaz . A three kilometer long, steadily uphill, paved road that ends in the village branches off in Pemzaschen from the main road that connects Maralik (on the M1 between Yerevan and Gyumri ) with Artik . A field cultivation on the barren, in places with boulders interspersed hills does not take place. The hilly meadows are used solely for cattle breeding, which is the main agricultural livelihood of the inhabitants. A few green trees around the houses in summer show that the place is located in a depression favored by the abundance of water on an otherwise dry slope.
Townscape
In the 2001 census, 1,449 official residents were registered. For January 2012, the official statistics indicate 1541 inhabitants. In the house gardens, which are protected by fences or field stone walls, some vegetables (cabbage, potatoes) are grown for self-sufficiency. A large part of the buildings are cattle sheds, between which tall hay bales are stored as winter fodder. In the lower, apparently younger part of the village, farmsteads are spread out in wide spaces in open fields. This differs from the higher-lying, compact town center, whose residential buildings, which are surrounded by gardens, are sometimes unusually carefully walled between the farm buildings. Lernakert is connected to the natural gas pipeline network.
The pink tuff blocks on some old houses from the 18th or 19th century have been carefully smoothed. Occasionally the wall corners are emphasized by pilasters that end in ornamented capital stones. Door and window lintels, window sills and cornices of the exposed facades can also be richly varied in relief. The most beautiful design elements, however, are the abandoned house ruins.
church
The church stands closely between residential buildings a few meters to the left of the main square in the center of the village. It is an elongated, single-nave hall with barrel vaults , which is divided into four bays 3.6 meters long and 5.4 meters wide by three belt arches supported by wall pillars . In the east there is a horseshoe-shaped apse that is somewhat reduced in width . Their depth is 3.2 meters. The outer basic shape is a simple rectangle of 22.4 × 8.2 meters. The outer walls are very massive at 1.4 meters. On the outside, they rise 5.2 meters from a narrow two-tiered base ( Krepis ) to the edge of the eaves. The inside wall height is 4.8 meters up to the base of the arch. In addition to these measurements, Josef Strzygowski assumed a 1.55 meter high barrel vault, which was completely missing during his visit in 1913 and was only reconstructed after the turn of the millennium. The two entrances are in the middle of the west and south walls.
The hall church, which is unique in Armenia, is dated to the 5th or 6th century. There are no historical sources or inscriptions. The dating is done according to stylistic features. The portal porch with a horseshoe-shaped roof at the south entrance, which is still rudimentary, offers a clue. It corresponds to those at the basilicas of Jereruk (Yererouk) near Anipemza (province of Shirak ) and Aparan , both of which are dated to the 5th or 6th century. The arch above the window on the west side is similar to that of the Tsiranawor basilica of Ashtarak from the middle of the 6th century. It has been suggested that the church may have been built over an older pagan temple.
The simple Armenian hall churches probably have their models in the house churches in Syria, of which the oldest known example from the 4th century has been preserved as a ruin in Qirqbize in the area of the Dead Cities . Even if they have the same basic rectangular shape, Armenian hall churches are very different in size and design details. Like Lernakert, the single-nave churches of Werischen (Verishen, near Goris ) and Jeghward ( Aragazotn province , 5th - 6th century, small remains) were over 20 meters long, and a church in Awan (district of Yerevan) was less than 8 meters long . in Pemzashen and KarenIS (province of Kotayk ). Most of them have a round apse built into a straight east wall.
The building decor on the outside consists of a restored toothed cornice on the eaves and on the gable. The lintel over the round arches of the twin window in the west wall shows a parallel line pattern and above it three medallions in bas-relief. The round arch protruding far above the south portal is badly damaged. On the southern long side, two arched windows and a narrower window in the apse provide moderate light. The north wall has only one window in the eastern half.
A photo taken before 1973 shows the outer walls without a vaulted roof. The building served as a haystack during the socialist era and until after 2000. In 2011 the church was completely restored and re-covered with a tiled roof. Today it is used as a village church.
literature
- Paolo Cuneo: Architettura Armena dal quarto al diciannovesimo secolo. Volume 1. De Luca Editore, Rome 1988, p. 243
- Annegret Plontke-Lüning: Early Christian architecture in the Caucasus. The development of Christian sacred buildings in Lazika, Iberia, Armenia, Albania and the border regions from the 4th to the 7th century (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class, Volume 359. Publications on Byzantium Research, Volume XIII) Verlag der Österreichische Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2007, enclosed CD-ROM: Catalog of preserved church buildings, p. 183, ISBN 978-3700136828
- Josef Strzygowski : The architecture of the Armenians and Europe. Volume 1. Kunstverlag Anton Schroll, Vienna 1918, p. 142f ( online at Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rick Ney: Shirak Marz. (PDF; 1.9 MB) TourArmenia Travel Guide, p. 15
- ^ Armenian National Survey for Seismic Protection. nssp-gov.am
- ^ RA 2001 Population and Housing Census Results. (PDF; 932 kB) armstat.am
- ^ RA Shirak Marz. (PDF; 150 kB) armstat.am
- ↑ Josef Strzygowski, p. 142
- ↑ Beat Brenk: Late antiquity and early Christianity. Propylaea art history. Ullstein, Frankfurt / M. 1985, p. 208
- ↑ Annegret Plontke-Lüning, p. 183
- ^ Jean-Michel Thierry: Armenian Art . Herder, Freiburg 1988, p. 51
- ↑ Fig. 199 in Beat Brenk, from: Francesco Gandolfo: Chiese e cappelle armene a navata semplice dal IV al VII secolo. De Luca, Rome 1973