Untitled Document

A BRIEF REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF RESEARCH ON ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURE ORGANIZATION FOR THE YEAR 2002

The purpose of Research on Armenian Architecture (RAA) NGO is to investigate and document Armenian architectural monuments located outside the borders of the present-day Republic of Armenia, i.e. in Cilicia and Historical Armenia (most of the latter's territory has formed part of its neighbouring countries since World War I), as well as in the adjacent countries of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and the historical Armenian Diaspora. The organization also has the objective of presenting the Armenian society and international community publications on them. The problem is the same everywhere: it is necessary to take photographs of the monuments and have them fixed onto maps, thus saving them at least on paper before their final annihilation. With this goal in mind, RAA started research about 30 years ago in an area larger than the present-day Republic of Armenia, the entire work being carried out by a few devotees who had to confine themselves to the highly limited financial means they had at their disposal, being sometimes obliged to face rather dangerous conditions. Eye-witness to the planned destruction of the Armenian architectural monuments, each year we are confronted with the difficult choice of prioritizing our targets and deciding where to focus our efforts. The final decision, however, is always dependent on financial resources and different political obstacles.

RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN WESTERN ARMENIA
   The first trip RAA staff made to Western Armenia commenced from Cesarea (Kayseri), where a church, the local Armenian quarter and market were photographed.
   In Kars an Armenian church, now turned into a mosque and named Besik Cami, was photographed. The city's once Armenian-populated quarter, which still existed in 1999, is totally ruined now: only some fragments of cross-stones (khachkars) and lapidary inscriptions are preserved there. All the lapidary inscriptions of St. Sargis Church of Khtzkonk Monastery Complex, which was still standing, were photographed again.
   Since 2000 it has been banned to take any photographs in the city of Ani, where the restoration of the ramparts is underway. Some dangerous cracks have appeared on the southern and western facades of the city's main cathedral.
   The only remnants of Sourb Astvatzatzin Monastery, situated in the settlement of Demirdoven, beside the city of Pasinlar, comprise its belfry that has been partly preserved.
   Six standing and semi-ruined churches as well as gravestones and broken khachkars were photographed in the district of Divrig.
   We also photographed the monastery of Akhtamar, where several cross-stones, existing a few years before, had disappeared.
   Photographs were also taken of two churches in the district of Datvan as well as some destroyed ones and gravestones deliberately reduced to building material in the villages situated at the foot of Mount Nemrut, in the west of Lake Van.

RESEARCH IMPLEMENTED THROUGH GRANTS
   During the year we continued preparing the project "The Microtoponyms of Artsakh," which was awarded a grant by ANSEF: its glossary (120 p.), maps (173 p.) and photographs (173 p.) were completed, the work being enriched with the materials collected during the trips made within 30 days between March and April and 14 days in August.
   The ancient and new toponyms of the Armenian Plateau are one of the most important domains of the history of Armenia and scholars have always highlighted the problems concerning their collection, verification and etymology (the Dictionary of Toponymy of Armenia and Adjacent Territories is the largest ever published work with this respect).
   So far scholars have focused their attention only on the most important toponyms, such as the names of lakes, rivers, mountains, ancient settlements, various administrative centres, etc. The general tendency has always been to neglect the microtoponyms of the Armenian Plateau, i.e. the names of the districts, mountains, hills, rivers, tributaries, springs, waterfalls, fields and even lonely trees; in other words, each name connected with the Armenian land in general.
   History has proved that unlike toponyms, microtoponyms sink into oblivion more easily and frequently due to displacement (forced deportation, emigration, massacres). After the genocide of 1915, thousands of microtoponyms of Western Armenia fell into oblivion. Indeed, between the 1930s and '40s, and in some cases even in the 1950s, it was still possible to restore at least part of the microtoponyms of our Motherland thanks to the genocide survivors' recollections: that, however, was not carried out so that their loss became irreversible.
   With this regard, the microtoponyms of the depopulated Armenian settlements of Northern Artsakh were no exception. Some 14 to 15 years have passed since the deportation of Artsakh Armenians; in another 14 to 15 years, we would be absolutely unable to do anything in this connection. Research on Armenian Architecture (RAA) Organization undertook this work, which admits of no delay and is of the utmost significance to historiography, in 1990.
   The microtoponyms of about 200 villages of Artsakh have been collected and mapped in the recent years.
   More than 2,000 microtoponyms have been collected and mapped thanks to the valuable information obtained from the natives of Northern Artsakh living in the Republics of Armenia and Karabakh. The existing materials were completed with the microtoponyms of the central and southern parts of Artsakh, as a result of which 5,800 microtoponyms were finally included in the work.
   A project entitled "The Historical and Natural Environment of Khosrov Reserve: A Giudebook" was awarded a grant by the Cultural Heritage Restoration Fund functioning within Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. Unique in its kind, it aims at introducing the rich reserve to the Armenians and foreigners, thus contributing to the protection of this rare area which is in great danger at present, due to different encroachments such as poaching, wood cutting and sheep breeding.
   The guidebook consists of 5 parts:
1. A Historical Introduction by L. Manukian;
2. The Geological Structure of the Reserve by M. Satian;
3. The Flora of the Reserve by E. Gabrielian;
4. The Fauna of the Reserve by M. Adamian;
5. The Historical Monuments of the Reserve by S. Karapetian.
   Completed between August and December, the model book, enriched with photographs by H. Ghazarian, H. Hovhannissian, E. Gabrielian, M. Adamian, M. Satian, A. Hakhnazarian and S. Karapetian, was handed in at the appointed time, i.e. 9 December (some photos were also taken by K. Asatrian on RAA's instruction).
   The page design of the work having been realized, it has been prepared for publication in Armenian and English (translator G. Movsissian, editor A. Amiraghian).

RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN ARTSAKH AND ARMENIA
During the year the archives of RAA were supplemented with 860 photos, measurements and copies of lapidary inscriptions collected in Artsakh.
Short trips were made to Khosrov Reserve, Tzitzernavank and Khodaperin Bridge.

RESTORATION IN DADIVANK
   The monastic complex of Dadivank consists of 10 religious structures, including 4 churches, 6 chapels and numerous other buildings. Its Katoghike (1214), i.e. the main domed church of the complex, the main church dating back to 1211, the porch (1224), the belfry (1283), the vestibule (1283-1293), the hall and dwellings as well as the refectory and kitchen founded after 1211, the guest-chamber, the wine press, the cellar, the princely quarters and the chapel, all tracing back to the 13th century, the portico, the gates and some other rooms (13th to 14th centuries) bear the remarkable features of Artsakh architectural school. Most of these buildings have survived but until very recently they were in a state of decay and even in emergency condition.
   The restoration carried out in this monument complex is of great significance from the standpoint of the preservation of the sanctuary which stands as an eloquent proof of the Armenians' existence in that land.
   This year the restoration of the Katoghike began, sponsored by Edil Hovnanian, New York, USA.
   In 2003 new restoration projects will be implemented in Dadivank with the contribution of Edik Abrahamian, Teheran, Iran.
   Dadivank Complex, which is one of the most important monuments of Armenian architecture, has all the possibilities for future functioning.

SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES
In November 2002 RAA participated in an international seminar ICOMOS had organized in Yerevan.

RAA AND STUDENTS
In different universities RAA members delivered lectures, accompanied by slide display, on the settlements and cultural monuments of Historical Armenia.

EXHIBITIONS
On 18 June an exhibition dedicated to Northern Artsakh opened in the History Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of the RA.
From 26 July till 1 August, another exhibition dedicated to the historical monuments of Javakhk was held in Vaspurakan Hall of Nshan Palanjian Jemaran (an institute of higher education), Beirut, Lebanon.

WORKS PUBLISHED WITHIN THE SERIES OF "RAA. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES"
   The series of the RAA books entitled "Scientific Researches" is the only one in the present-day Republic of Armenia which publishes investigation materials on history and architecture. Below follows a list of the works published within this unique series:
   1. The Armenian Lapidary Inscriptions of Boon Aghvank, Yerevan, 1997 (in Armenian);
   2. The State Policy of Georgia and the Monuments of Armenian Culture, Yerevan, 1998 (in Armenian);
   3. Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 1999 (in Armenian); Yerevan, 2000, in Russian, and Yerevan, 2001 (in English).
   4. The Princely Castles of Artsakh and Syunik, Yerevan, 2001 (published in Armenian under the patronage of Shahen and Martha Harutiunian, Los Angeles, USA).

THE HISTORICAL MONUMENTS OF ARTAZ
During the year the preparation of Armen Hakhnazarian's work entitled "The Historical Monuments of Artaz" was underway.

THE HISTORICAL MONUMENTS OF JAVAKHK
   In April 2002 we completed the book entitled "The Historical Monuments of Javakhk" (500 p.), but unfortunately, it was not published due to the lack of financial means.
    The territory of Javakhk District, Gugark Province, Historical Armenia, that is currently situated in the south of Georgia, a cross-border of Armenia, abounds in diverse historical monuments. Mainly populated by the Armenians, it has not been investigated properly so far.
   The work, based on various sources and archive materials, treats the history of all the settlements of Javakhk, including the decipherments of Armenian, Georgian, Arabic and Turkish lapidary inscriptions published for the first time.
   Based on sheer facts, it shows that since ancient times, Javakhk has been populated by Armenians whose number periodically decreased or grew due to different historical events.
   The publication of this scientific work is a serious contribution to the research of the historical-cultural heritage of Javakhk District.

FILM
In November Mr. Serzh Melik Hospiants, Paris, France, presented a film dedicated to the historical monuments of the liberated areas in RAA's Yerevan office.
At present preliminary work is underway for the establishment of a film-shooting department within the RAA office under the supervision of director Artak Avdalian.

CALENDARS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS
At the end of July, under the patronage of Photogravure Zaven & Fils, Beirut, Lebanon, the organization published an illustrated map entitled "The Historical Monuments of Javakhk" and a coloured booklet-directory with the heading "RAA. Scientific Researches."
Early in December, the aforementioned publishing house issued the RAA calendar for 2003 entitled "Let Us Preserve Our Values: Khosrov Reserve."

APPEAL
In the aftermath of the unfortunate political events that occurred during and after World War I, most of the territory of Historical Armenia now forms part of the adjacent countries. Thus, the districts of Artaz and Parspatunik are located within Iran's borders, the most important of the local Armenian monasteries being generally reconstructed under state auspices. The other neighbours of Armenia, however, do not share this respect for culture and religion: the deliberate destruction of Armenian religious monuments is still in process in Turkey (see RAA Report for 1997, St. Bartholomew Monastery), the Armenian churches being consistently appropriated in Georgia. Between November and December 2002, Azerbaijan, one of the member-states of the UN, UNESCO, ICOMOS and the European Council that also intends to be admitted to the European Union, realized the premeditated annihilation of about 2,700 nicely-carved cross-stones in the centuries-old cemetery of Hin Jugha, Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan. The unique monument complex fell victim to the barbarity perpetrated after the example of the aggressive followers of Taleban.
RAA NGO calls upon you to join this appeal of protest and expose the cultural "genocide" with all possible means, denouncing Azerbaijan in the world organizations.

Dr. Armen Hakhnazarian
RAA Founding Director