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ILLEGAL TILES AT GANDZASAR MONASTERY WILL BE REMOVED
Sona Avagyan
hetq
18:41, July 15, 2011
According the two top officials at the Armenian Association of
Restorative Architects of Historical Monuments, the polished facing
tiles recently affixed to the walls of the Gandzasar Monastery in
Artsakh will be removed.
Installation of the tiles caused an uproar both in Armenia and Artsakh
and was the number one issues covered in the pages of the press and
on Armenian TV.
Association Vice President Stepan Nalbandyan thanked the Artsakh
government's Division of Tourism and Armenia's Ministry of Culture
for intervening in the matter and putting a halt to the wall re-facing.
Mr. Nalbandyan said that care must be taken when removing the tiles
and the walls must eventually be reinforced in an appropriate manner.
Association President Gagik Soghomonyan noted that merely resurfacing
a decaying wall made no sense and that, in any event, professional
restoration demands that the same materials be used as in the original
construction.
As to the intentions of Levon Hayrapetyan, the Russian-Armenian
businessman who conceived the project to retile the monastery walls,
Mr. Nalbandyan said that no overall plan was presented to the Artsakh
government.
Oftentimes, benefactors think 'what's the harm in repairing something
located in a village', Mr. Nalbandyan noted.
Mr. Soghomonyan said that according to their information the
contractors never consulted with the Architectural Council in
Etchmiadzin and was surprised that Artsakh Primate Barkev Martirosyan
never advised them to consult with the Council.
"This was a major oversight. Had the contractors done so, the Council
would have advised them regarding the proper process to follow,"
noted Mr. Soghomonyan.
It turns out that the work was begun without the proper authorization.
It took the Artsakh Division of Tourism, in cooperation with the
RA Culture Ministry, to declare that the work was inappropriate and
needed to be halted.
"The crux of the protests being raised was that the work was illegal.
We are trying to build a state and every benefactor, with a degree of
self-respect, must follow the rules and regulations that exist. They
have to seek out the experts in this field before doing anything. They
just can't make decisions on their own," noted Gagik Soghomonyan.
According to reports appearing on the internet, Levon Hayrapetyan
had planned to spend $1.5 million on the retiling of Gandzasar's walls.
Gagik Soghomonyan, who drafted a renovation project for the entire
monastery in 1989 for the Soviet Union's Ministry of Culture, says
that according to his draft the reinforcing of the walls could be
done for five times less.
From: A. Papazian
Sona Avagyan
hetq
18:41, July 15, 2011
According the two top officials at the Armenian Association of
Restorative Architects of Historical Monuments, the polished facing
tiles recently affixed to the walls of the Gandzasar Monastery in
Artsakh will be removed.
Installation of the tiles caused an uproar both in Armenia and Artsakh
and was the number one issues covered in the pages of the press and
on Armenian TV.
Association Vice President Stepan Nalbandyan thanked the Artsakh
government's Division of Tourism and Armenia's Ministry of Culture
for intervening in the matter and putting a halt to the wall re-facing.
Mr. Nalbandyan said that care must be taken when removing the tiles
and the walls must eventually be reinforced in an appropriate manner.
Association President Gagik Soghomonyan noted that merely resurfacing
a decaying wall made no sense and that, in any event, professional
restoration demands that the same materials be used as in the original
construction.
As to the intentions of Levon Hayrapetyan, the Russian-Armenian
businessman who conceived the project to retile the monastery walls,
Mr. Nalbandyan said that no overall plan was presented to the Artsakh
government.
Oftentimes, benefactors think 'what's the harm in repairing something
located in a village', Mr. Nalbandyan noted.
Mr. Soghomonyan said that according to their information the
contractors never consulted with the Architectural Council in
Etchmiadzin and was surprised that Artsakh Primate Barkev Martirosyan
never advised them to consult with the Council.
"This was a major oversight. Had the contractors done so, the Council
would have advised them regarding the proper process to follow,"
noted Mr. Soghomonyan.
It turns out that the work was begun without the proper authorization.
It took the Artsakh Division of Tourism, in cooperation with the
RA Culture Ministry, to declare that the work was inappropriate and
needed to be halted.
"The crux of the protests being raised was that the work was illegal.
We are trying to build a state and every benefactor, with a degree of
self-respect, must follow the rules and regulations that exist. They
have to seek out the experts in this field before doing anything. They
just can't make decisions on their own," noted Gagik Soghomonyan.
According to reports appearing on the internet, Levon Hayrapetyan
had planned to spend $1.5 million on the retiling of Gandzasar's walls.
Gagik Soghomonyan, who drafted a renovation project for the entire
monastery in 1989 for the Soviet Union's Ministry of Culture, says
that according to his draft the reinforcing of the walls could be
done for five times less.
From: A. Papazian