St. Karabet Monastery
| St. Karabet Monastery Սուրբ Կարապետ Վանք |
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|---|---|
 Church of Surb Karabet 1893 from the southwest |
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| Construction year: | |
| Inauguration: | 19th century |
| Style elements : | Armenian architecture |
| Towers: |
2 |
| Location: | 38 ° 57 '39.8 " N , 41 ° 11' 30.1" E |
| Location: |
Çengeli Muş , Turkey |
| Purpose: | Armenian Apostolic Monastery |
The St. Karabet Monastery or Monastery of St. John the Baptist ( Armenian Սուրբ Յովհաննէս Կարապետ Վանք Surb Hovhannes Karapet Vank , Turkish Çanlı kilise ; also Monastery of Glak or Glakavank ) was an Armenian monastery complex founded in the 4th century in the Greater Armenian province Taron , about 35 kilometers northwest of Muş , today in the village of Çengeli in eastern Turkey .
Founded by Saint Gregory the Illuminator , it was one of the oldest monasteries in Armenia . The monastery was a stronghold of the Taron princes Mamikonian . Its relatives were considered holy warriors of Saint Yovhannes Karapet ( John the Baptist ), their patron saint.
The Saint Karabet Monastery, founded on the site of the ancient Armenian cult site Ashtischat , was the most important Armenian pilgrimage site after Etchmiadzin and Jerusalem , as well as one of the richest and oldest institutions in the Ottoman Empire until 1915, when it was destroyed after the genocide of the Armenians .
Place and name
The monastery was located on the northern border of the Muş Plateau, at an altitude of 6400 feet above sea level or 2200 above the Muş Plain.
Surb ( Armenian Սուրբ ) means holy and Karabet (Armenian Կարապետ) means harbinger , which stands for John the Baptist in the western Armenian language .
history
founding
Legend has it that the monastery was founded by Gregory the Illuminator who came to Taron and spread Christianity in the area shortly after he killed King Trdat III. had converted. At that time, according to Zenon Klag, a contemporary of Gregory, there were two temples of a Hindu colony that was under the protection of the Armenian kings. Accordingly, the Hindus worshiped two large brass statues, which were known under the names Demeter and Kisane. The Hindu warriors and their Armenian allies were defeated by Gregory's army in two subsequent battles and their sanctuaries leveled. In their place, Gregory the Illuminator built a Christian church.
middle Ages
In the Middle Ages , the Surb Karabet Monastery was an agricultural center of the region. It had an extensive monastery complex and was one of the educational centers of Western Armenia .
Modern period
In the second half of the 19th century, when the Armenians were facing increasing discrimination from the Ottoman Empire , the monastery published the newspaper "Adler von Taron" by Chrimian Hairik , the future Catholicos of all Armenians.
In the book "The Call of plowmen" Chatschik Daschtenz describes a winter scene in the Surb Karabet monastery.
HFB Lynch visited the monastery on November 29, 1893 and later wrote a report with photographs in his book Armenia: Travels and Studies , published in 1901.
The monastery, in addition Armenians also Zazas worshiped, was known for the healing of the mentally ill.
Current status
Only a few ruins, stone carvings and kachkars have survived , which have since been used as building material by today's Muslim residents, mostly Kurds , and are often built into the walls of local apartments and structures.
Building complex
The monastery, surrounded by thick walls, resembled a fortress . On the eastern side of the main cathedral stood two chapels with polygonal towers and conical roofs, probably older than the main church. The youngest part was the gate to the church tower, one reason for the Turkish name of the monastery - “Çanlı” (meaning “with a church tower”).
In addition to the Church of St. Karabet, the monastery also included the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, the Chapel of St. George, the Chapel of St. Stepanos and the Church of St. Astvatsatsin. This complex, which is considered a splendid example of Armenian architecture, was destroyed during the last century.
The Martyrdom was probably first a hall-shaped building with an archaic cupola that was later rebuilt.
Burials
The tombstones of Musheghs, of Vahan the Wolf and Sembats remind of the wars of aggression that the Sassanids waged against the Mamikoniden (Prince's House of Tarons) . The bones of Vahan Kamsarakan are buried near the southern walls.
See also
- Surb Arakelots , apostle monastery south of Mus
- Yeghrduti Vank , Johannes monastery west of Mus
bibliography
- Robert H. Hewsen : Armenia: A Historical Atlas . 1st edition. University of Chicago Press , Chicago, IL 2001, ISBN 0-226-33228-4 , pp. 206 ( uchicago.edu ).
- HFB Lynch: Armenia, travels and studies . Volume II: The Turkish Provinces. Longmans, Green, and Co, London 1901, OCLC 744928 .
- Jean-Michel Thierry: = Armenian Art . Harry N. Abram, New York 1989, ISBN 0-8109-0625-2 .
Web links
- Монастырь Сурб Карапет близ Муша. ( Russian , includes historical and contemporary photos)
- Photos of the St. Karabet Monastery from before 1950, in the 1970s and in the 200s from Research on Armenian Architecture
- Photos of the St. Karabet Monastery at Rensselear Digital Collections
- Program on St. Karabet Monastery in Moush by Vem Radio
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Thierry, p. 175. 1989
- ↑ a b c d Lynch, p. 178.
- ^ History of Taron : Translator's Preface
- ↑ History of Taron , Part 4: And he cried out to St. Karapet: 'Oh Yovhannes Karapet, baptizer of Christ, the hour has come. Where are the prayers of my holy clerics? '
- ↑ a b Lynch, pp. 174-176. 1901
- ↑ Mesrob Jacob Seth: Hindoos in Armenia.
- ↑ The Yezidi Pantheon , Garnik Asatrian and Victoria Arakelova, Iran & the Caucasus , Vol. 8, no. 2, 2004: 238.
- ↑ HFB Lynch : "Armenia. Travel Essays and Studies"
- ↑ Lynch, p. 179, 1901