Saint Hripsime Church
The Armenian Apostolic Saint Hripsime Church ( Surb Hripsime ) in Etschmiadzin ( Armavir Province , Armenia ) was built by Catholicos Komitas over the mausoleum of St. Hripsime built by Isaac the Great and, according to inscriptions above the west entrance and under the east apse and indications by the historian and contemporary witness Sebeos in 618. The church is one of the oldest preserved in the country and represents a completely encased tetraconchus with strut niches in the four corners. The early Christian Armenian sacred architecture subsequently developed a style-defining effect. The Hripsime Church has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000, along with the cathedral to the west and the central part of the city and two other churches in Etchmiadzin.
history
Sankt Hripsime was built on the site of the martyrdom of the Hripsime, which took place around the year 300 and for the conversion of the Armenian king Trdat III. and led the people to Christianity. The previous building was a mausoleum for Hripsime from the end of the 4th century, probably in the form of a two-story double chapel . Hripsime is said to have been a relative of the Roman emperor Claudius who fled from a Roman monastery via Edessa to Armenia from the coveted Emperor Diocletian with 70 virgins and her teacher, the holy abbess Gajane . There Trdat III. attention to her, but she also refused to accept him because she wanted to remain a nun, which is why he had her beheaded.
Gajane and the virgins were executed in other places in Etchmiadzin, where the churches of Surb Gajane and Surb Shoghakat , which are also world cultural heritage sites , were built like the cathedral of Etchmiadzin . According to the legend passed down by the Armenian historian Agathangelos in 491, Jesus showed Gregory the Illuminator in a vision the place of the martyrdom of the Hripsime by striking the relevant place with a golden hammer. He asked him to build a tomb there in her memory.
architecture
The church, located on a connecting road to Yerevan , is surrounded by a wall with corner towers and has four apses , angularly encased on the outside , one in each direction. This type of Tetrakonchos is a special type of the Armenian central building and was also used in other churches at this time, such as those in Awan , Gaharnovit and Sissian . The rooms are grouped in a star shape around the dome, about the age of which, whether original or renewed in the 10th to 11th centuries, the experts disagree. The drum is sixteen sided and has twelve windows. On the base of the dome stand four towers, which on the one hand increase its stability and on the other hand integrate their polygonal shape optically into the rectangular floor plan of the church.
There are small accessible chambers in the corners of the church. The vaulted Martyrion with the relics of St. Hripsime lies under the east apse. In addition to her, three Catholics from the first half of the 18th century are buried in the church, as well as some khachkars . Overall, the design of the interior, which is relatively large due to its lightweight construction, is primarily based on the vertical axis under the dome.
In the wall on the side of the apses niches are worked that reach the height of the facade, and under the church a basement floor to increase the stability in the event of earthquakes, which St. Hripsime has withstood to this day. Thanks to twelve equally spaced ribs , the church is made of lighter material, which relieves the conical apex, i.e. the top of the dome, and keeps the center of gravity low. These measures increase the resistance to the Rayleigh waves occurring on the surface during an earthquake.
The church of Sankt Hripsime gives its name to the Armenian central building type Awan- Hripsime , whose four conches are enlarged by lateral corner rooms to form a complex floor plan and which represents an enlargement and structural improvement compared to the Mastara type . Opposite is the Zvartnots Cathedral , built in the middle of the 7th century and located two kilometers away , whose tetraconchus was stabilized by an outer circular gallery.
As a contemporary witness, the Armenian historian Arakel von Tabriz reports that the church was renovated from 1651 to 1653. Among other things, a small portico was added to the west side . In 1751 an altarpiece made of inlaid mother-of-pearl was created , which testifies to the high level of handicrafts in Armenia at that time. In 1790 a two-storey bell tower supported by four pillars was erected in front of the west portal, the tent roof of which rests on an octagonal rotunda with eight columns.
During renovations from 1959 to 1962, a system of 24 trumpets was uncovered under the large, relatively low drum . At this time, remains from pre-Christian times were discovered under the church.
Enclosing wall
View from the west of Sankt Hripsime
South apse with niches
Layout
inner space
Chatschkar inside the church
literature
- Patrick Donabédian: Documentation of the art places. In: Jean-Michel Thierry: Armenian Art. Herder, Freiburg / B. 1988, pp. 533f, ISBN 3-451-21141-6
- Thomas F. Mathews: Observations on St Hripsimē. In: Thymiama stē Mnēmē tēs Lascarianas Bouras. Benakē Museum, Athens 1994, pp. 203–205 (Reprint: Art and Architecture in Byzantium and Armenia. Collected Studies Series. Variorum. Ashgate, Aldershot 1995)
- Sirarpie Der Nersessian : Armenia and the Byzantine Empire. A Brief Study of Armenian Art and Civilization. Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1947, pp. 64-66
- 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, p. 74f; Enclosed CD-ROM: Catalog of preserved church buildings, pp. 345–352, ISBN 978-3-7001-3682-8
- Josef Strzygowski : The architecture of the Armenians and Europe. Volume 1. Kunstverlag Anton Schroll, Vienna 1918, pp. 92–94 ( online at Internet Archive )
Web links
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Hripsime in Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno (USA)
Individual evidence
- ^ Patrick Donabédian: Documentation of the art places . In: Jean-Michel Thierry, p. 533
Coordinates: 40 ° 10 ′ 1.1 ″ N , 44 ° 18 ′ 34.8 ″ E
