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Who Is Responsible for 13th Century St. Marineh? The Ministry of Culture or
Etchmiadzin?Sona Avagyan
10:51, April 8, 2013
In response to a Hetq inquiry as to whether the RA Ministry of Culture has
inspected the 13th century Saint Marineh Church in Ashtarak and evaluated
it architectural soundness, the ministry says that the edifice was returned
to the Holy See of Etchmiadzin and that it is responsible to implement any
necessary repairs.
Large cracks in the walls of the church, built in 1281 from brownish black
smooth face tufa stone, have appeared.
The church is a cruciform central-plan from inside and rectangular from
exterior (11.45 X 8.88 meters) and drum of the dome is round from inside,
decahedral from the outside. The belfry over the southern wing was built
in 1838. A basilica was tacked on in the early 20th century.
We then contacted Father Vahram Melikyan, who heads the Public Affairs
Office at Etchmiadzin.
`It's a pity that the ministry keeps parroting the same response, that
the
owners of such monuments are responsible for their maintenance,' Father
Vahram said.
He said that Etchmiadzin just didn't have the resources to single-handedly
take care of all the religious monuments under its jurisdiction.
`The officials of the ministry should know better and not try to justify
their actions by citing RA law. That same law obligates them, as government
officials, to display a degree of care to these holy sites,' said Father
Vahram.
St. Marineh falls within the Diocese of Aragatsotn, and Father Vahram told
Hetq that the Diocesan Primate had contacted the Ministry of Culture,
requesting that it initiate preservation measures for the church.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/25215/who-is-responsible-for-13th-century-st-marineh?-the-ministry-of-culture-or-etchmiadzin?.html
Etchmiadzin?Sona Avagyan
10:51, April 8, 2013
In response to a Hetq inquiry as to whether the RA Ministry of Culture has
inspected the 13th century Saint Marineh Church in Ashtarak and evaluated
it architectural soundness, the ministry says that the edifice was returned
to the Holy See of Etchmiadzin and that it is responsible to implement any
necessary repairs.
Large cracks in the walls of the church, built in 1281 from brownish black
smooth face tufa stone, have appeared.
The church is a cruciform central-plan from inside and rectangular from
exterior (11.45 X 8.88 meters) and drum of the dome is round from inside,
decahedral from the outside. The belfry over the southern wing was built
in 1838. A basilica was tacked on in the early 20th century.
We then contacted Father Vahram Melikyan, who heads the Public Affairs
Office at Etchmiadzin.
`It's a pity that the ministry keeps parroting the same response, that
the
owners of such monuments are responsible for their maintenance,' Father
Vahram said.
He said that Etchmiadzin just didn't have the resources to single-handedly
take care of all the religious monuments under its jurisdiction.
`The officials of the ministry should know better and not try to justify
their actions by citing RA law. That same law obligates them, as government
officials, to display a degree of care to these holy sites,' said Father
Vahram.
St. Marineh falls within the Diocese of Aragatsotn, and Father Vahram told
Hetq that the Diocesan Primate had contacted the Ministry of Culture,
requesting that it initiate preservation measures for the church.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/25215/who-is-responsible-for-13th-century-st-marineh?-the-ministry-of-culture-or-etchmiadzin?.html