Schoghakat Church
The Armenian Apostolic Shoghakat Church ( Armenian Սուրբ Շողակաթը եկեղեցի , Surb Schoghakate jekeghezi shortly Surb Schoghakat ; translated as "Holy light beam") whose wall is received incomplete, a few hundred meters is located west-northwest of Saint Hripsime Church in Echmiadzin ( Armavir Province ) in Armenia . It was built on a medieval place of worship during the reign of Catholicos Nahabed in 1694. Together with Sankt-Hripsime , Sankt Gajane and the Etchmiadzin Cathedral , it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2000 .
history
According to the legend handed down by Agathangelus , the church was built on the site where around the year 301 37 nuns were executed who had fled Rome to Armenia with St. Hripsime and her tutor and monastery director, St. Gajane, before Emperor Diocletian . During her martyrdom , to which she was the Armenian King Trdat III. after Hripsime had refused to become his wife and wanted to remain a nun, a ray of light is said to have appeared after which the church was later named. Soon after , Trdat converted to Christianity and made it the state religion .
architecture
Previous construction
In place of today's Schoghakat Church, built in 1694, there used to be a sacred building from the 13th century, while wall elements of the apse probably date back to the 5th century and were part of a martyrdom . In the southwest corner, remains of a hall church were found during excavations . On its south side there was a small semicircular apse that could have served as a portico . The bases of the wall piers have characteristics typical of 4th to 5th century Armenian architecture. Furthermore, a portal was found in the west and one in the south, which led into the chapel.
Today's appearance
Schoghakat is a single-nave basilica with a dome and an elongated rectangular floor plan. The semicircular east apse is flanked on both sides by a narrow chapel. Some parts of the wall at this point are the oldest surviving parts of the church and may go back to the 5th century. Four pendentives transform the rectangular structure of the central yoke into the octagonal tambour and the conical dome above . The dome is positioned west of the center of the church, which is typical of medieval churches in Armenia, and is supported by four pillars on the north and south side walls. The bema is framed with a frieze depicting pomegranates.
An open gallery , created at the same time as the church, is built in front of the western main portal. There is a long inscription on the lintel , which contrasts with the orange tuff used for construction . There are two small chapels on either side of the main portal on the raised western front. There is a smaller entrance to the church on the south side. With the exception of the geometrically decorated outer wall of the drum, Schoghakat has a strict, rectangular facade without niches and arches and with only a few ornamental decorations. Cross stones are worked into the walls at a greater height . The exterior of the east apse has a cross-shaped design with rosettes and two cross-shaped windows that let some light into the interior of the church.
The open gallery, whose single arched passage in the middle opens it to the outside and leads to the main portal, has a vault . There are arched windows on its north, west and south sides. The passage and window are framed by a frieze with geometric ornaments, rosettes and cross stones. A six-column dome, which has the function of a bell tower, sits enthroned above the open gallery. The capitals of these columns and the surfaces above their arches are decorated with foliage.
literature
- Ekkart Sauser: Hripsime. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 14, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-073-5 , Sp. 1096-1097.
Web links
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Valarshapat / Shoghakat. In: Armenian Studies Program. California State University, Fresno , accessed April 12, 2011 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Valarshapat / Shoghakat. (No longer available online.) In: Armenian Studies Program. California State University, Fresno , archived from the original on June 10, 2010 ; accessed on April 12, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ekkart Sauser: Hripsime. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 14, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-073-5 , Sp. 1096-1097.
Coordinates: 40 ° 10 ′ 5.2 ″ N , 44 ° 18 ′ 17.6 ″ E
