The Church of the Holy Trinity is an Armenian church of the 7th century, once located in Nakhichevan . Demolished in 1975.
| Monastery | |
| Holy Trinity Church | |
|---|---|
| A country |  Azerbaijan |
| City | Nakhichevan |
| Denomination |  Armenian Apostolic Church |
| Founding date | VII century |
| Status | demolished |
| condition | ruined |
Architecture
The Church of the Holy Trinity (Surb Yerrordutyun), built in the style of early medieval Armenian architecture, was quite large and tall. Being built of hewn basalt and local red tuff, the construction of the structure was a four-absid basilica [1] .
History
Built in the VII century, the Church of the Holy Trinity was located south-west of the city. Being one of the oldest churches in the city, it was deeply revered among Armenians. In it, in 705 , the Arabs who seized the region, Armenian princes were burned alive [1] . The references to this event are present in the works of Armenian historians Ghevond (VIII century) [2] and Stepanos Taronetsi (X century) [3] that have come down to us.
On June 20, 1840, an earthquake occurred in the region, as a result of which the dome of the building was destroyed. During the restoration work carried out in the church from 1881 to 1900, the eyewitness M. Smbtyan wrote [1] :
during the repair of the Nakhichevan church of Surb Yerrordutyun, the charred remains of burned down 1,200 years ago were clearly visible at the base of it, as well as human bones, as all Nakhichevanians saw it familiarized themselves with grief with the ancient tragedy in Nakhichevan
In 1975, during construction work in Nakhichevan, the church was demolished. The Russian historian V.Shnirelman , in his book, in the section “Albanization of the Armenian Heritage”, citing the example of the Azerbaijani scientist Zia Buniyatov , notes that the destruction of historical and religious monuments was justified in the works of scientists [4]
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 A. Ayvazyan / Monuments of Armenian Architecture of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic / Yer., 1981, p. 106Original text (rus.)In the southwestern part of the city, there was one of the first churches in the city - the Surb Yerrordutyun (Holy Trinity) church, built in the style of early medieval Armenian architecture and, by design, the four-Abbas basilica. It was in this church in 705 that the Armenian princes were burned down by Arabs. It was a large, tall church, built of hewn basalt and local red tuff. The dome of the church was destroyed during an earthquake on June 20, 1840. During the restoration of the church of 1881–1900, an eyewitness Smbtyan M. wrote that “during the repair of the Nakhichevan Surb Yerrordutyun church, the charred remains of the burnt 1200 years ago and the human bones were clearly seen at the base, as all Nakhijevan people saw and familiarized themselves with the ancient the tragedy in Nakhichevan "It was demolished in the summer of 1975 during construction work"
- ↑ Ghevond / History of the Caliphs / Chapter VI pp. 21-23 St. Petersburg. 1862 Original text (rus.)In the first year of his reign, Vlid wanted to exterminate the Nakharar races with their riders .... After receiving the order, lawless Makhmet commanded a certain Kassu .... that he invited the Armenian nobles together with the riders under the pretext to list them for a salary. They, by their simple simplicity, did not suppose that there was a cunning trap for them, and went by invitation. As soon as the Armenian nobles and their horsemen arrived there, the order was given to divide them into two parts, of which one half was ordered to gather in the Nakhichevan church and the other to go to the village Temple and fit in the church. (When this was done), they placed guards at the churches, and reasoned how to destroy the prisoners in Armenian churches — nobles and horsemen, and soon set to work. Only the princes were taken out of prison, and the rest of those locked together with the church were set on fire, so that they would burn under the arches of the divine altar .... The princes were imprisoned, tortured by unbearable torture, they demanded that their weight of gold and silver ... When the princes they gave up all their treasures, the wicked still laid hands on them, put them to death, and executed them on the gallows. So they died: Smbat, the son of Ashot from the Bagratuni clan, Gregory and Koryun from the Artsruni clan, Varazzhapuh and his brother from the Amatuni clan, and many others from the clans of sovereign princes, of which I am not able to name everyone; they were all slain. Thus our country was destitute: its rulers did not become. After our country lost its tribes of Nakharar, its inhabitants, like sheep, were betrayed to wolves.
- The universal history of Stepanos of Taron, Asoh'ik by the nickname, the writer of the XI century. M. 1864 p. 93-93 Original text (rus.)his son Velit became the ruler of the tatchiki [continued] 10 years. In the very first year of his rule, he decided to destroy all the Armenian nobility in our land and ordered that the commander Mahmed, who in turn ordered some Koshma, the former governor of the city of Nakhchivan, to summon the Nakharars of Armenia with their koshnitsa as if to make it a review and assign the content from the treasury. They, in the simplicity of their hearts, immediately gathered there: right there they were divided into two parts, one was imprisoned in a church in Nakhchivan, and the other in a church in the Temple; they set fire to the churches and thus burned everyone in 153-704. The elder naharars were erected on the gallows; Sembat's son was captured by Ashot, Grigor and Koryun from the Artzruni clan, whose wives and sons were captured, [with them] and the infant Vardan, the son of Khosrov, the ruler of Gokhten, who was brought up in his lawless law. Upon reaching the age of majority, his hereditary possession [seized] to the treasury was returned to him. And he, returning to Armenia, [again] accepted the Christian faith together with monasticism and [finally] at the royal court he died a martyr in 186-737, as stated in his story
- ↑ Shnirelman V. A. War of Memory: Myths, Identity, and Politics in Transcaucasia / Reviewer: L. B. Alaev . - M .: Academkniga, 2003. - p. 215. - 592 p. - 2000 copies - ISBN 5-94628-118-6 . Original text (rus.)Sometimes the destruction of historical and religious monuments received a justification in the works of local scientists. For example, in 1975, during the construction work in Nakhichevan, the church of Surb Yerrordutyun (Holy Trinity), deeply revered by Armenians, was demolished, where, according to legend, in 705 the Arabs burned alive the Armenian princes. Soon after the demolition of this church, Buniyatov began to defend the idea that the said event did not happen at all in Nakhichevan on r. Araks, and far from there in the present territory of North-Eastern Turkey, where he advised Armenians to search for their historical relics. Do we need to talk about how outraged Armenian researchers are?