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Ancient Armenian monastery complex Tzarakar discovered

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  • Ancient Armenian monastery complex Tzarakar discovered

    Ancient Armenian monastery complex Tzarakar discovered

    September 20, 2013 - 12:48 AMT


    PanARMENIAN.Net - The renowned ancient Armenian monastery complex
    Tzarakar has been discovered near the village of Chukurayva, 5 kms
    south-east of the fortified town of Kechror, modern-day Turkey (the
    old Gabeghiank district, Ayrarat province of Greater
    Armenia),peopleofar.wordpress.com says.

    What remains of it are the interior cut-in-rock structures, the
    exterior buildings are irretrievably lost.

    The monastery consists of a church which has several entrances
    connected with each other, at least six chapels and other adjoining
    buildings. It is remarkable for its very interesting structure and
    extended lapidary inscriptions. Despite it, however, until recently
    neither specialists nor topographers ever paid any attention to it.

    It was only in 1999 that the monument was first visited by a
    specialist, namely Scottish researcher Stephen Sim, who took
    photographs of it and made its schematic plan. Later it was visited by
    seismologist Shiro Sasano, who published a small-scale research work
    on it together with several photographs he had taken there in 2009.

    In this way, these two foreign researchers discovered the cut-in-rock
    monastery and made it known to the scientific world. They, however,
    failed to find out its name and called it after the adjacent village
    presently inhabited by Kurds.

    Understanding the importance of conducting comprehensive studies in
    the monastic complex, in 2010 the members of Research on Armenian
    Architecture conducted scientific expeditions and revealed a lot of
    information relating to it. The available sources attest that this
    newly-discovered monument complex is the monastery of Tzarakar, which
    is mentioned in medieval records, and the location of which remained
    unknown until very recently.

    As is known, Tzarakar was one of the renowned monastic complexes in
    medieval Armenia, but in the course of centuries, it lost its glory
    and significance and was consigned to oblivion to such an extent that
    in our days even its location remained obscure.

    Late 19th century, Gh. Alishan used the available sources to point to
    the area where the monastery could have possibly been situated:
    `...Tzarakar, which is mentioned in some works by historiographers and
    geographers, is known to have stood in a naturally impregnable site in
    the vicinity of Kechror: first of all, a cut-in-rock monastery was
    erected...'

    S. Eprikian came to the same conclusion: `Supposedly, a monastery of
    this name and a village used to be situated near Kechror, Gabeghenk
    District, Ayrarat [Province].'

    The colophon of an Ashkharatsuyts (a geographical work), dating back
    to 1656, also confirms: `...the district of Gabeghenits and the castle
    of Kaput also called Artagereits - the town of Kechror is situated there
    together with the cut-in-rock monastery of Tzarakar, where
    Archimandrite Khachatur Kecharetsi's grave is found...'

    This passage reveals two facts of the utmost importance: firstly,
    Tzarakar Monastery was cut in the rock, and secondly, most presumably,
    it was situated not far from the town of Kechror. That Khachatur
    Kecharetsi, a worker of education and a poet who lived between the
    13th and 14th centuries, was buried somewhere near Kechror, is also
    attested by the following note on a map of 1691 compiled by Yeremia
    Chelebi Kyomurjian: `Town of Kechror, bordering on Basen, and
    Archimandrite Khachatur's grave.' These two records clarify that the
    monastery of Tzarakar was truly located near the fortress town of
    Kechror.

    Besides written records, the etymology of the toponym of Tzarakar was
    also of importance to its identification. Every visitor may easily see
    that the structures of the monastic complex are cut into quite friable
    masses of rock which are naturally striped and have certain coloring,
    looking like the parallel circular lines showing the age of a cut
    tree - evidently, the name of Tzarakar, the Armenian equivalent for Tree
    Stone, is conditioned by this resemblance meaning a monastery cut into
    a tree-like stone.

    The only surviving parts of Tzarakar Monastery are those of its
    structures which are cut in the rock, and therefore, are difficult to
    destroy, whereas the others have been irretrievably lost. For this
    reason, at present the complex is considered as only a cut-in-rock one
    consisting of 6 chapels and a main cruciform church with a pseudo-dome
    surrounded with annexes.

    http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/170241/Ancient_Armenian_monastery_complex_Tzarakar_discov ered

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