Mastara

Mastara (Armenian Մաստարա ), formerly Nerkin, is a village and a rural municipality ( hamaynkner ) in the northern Armenian province Aragazotn with 2652 inhabitants in 2012, according to official statistics. In the center of St. John's Church ( Surb Hovanes ) remained from the 7th century, a significant for the development of the Armenian central building architectural form ( " Mastara - type") with four apses.

Location

40.44777777777843.881388888889Koordinaten: 40 ° 26 ' 52 "N, 43 ° 52' 53 " O

Mastara is on 1723 meters above sea level in a valley surrounded by low hills to the west of Mount Aragats. From the M1 motorway between Yerevan and Gyumri branches around 75 kilometers north of the capital, Yerevan, and seven kilometers behind Talin a road to the east. Guides you through a mile located beside highway town center of Mastara and further into the foothills of the Aragats to the village Garnahovit with a central domed church from the 7th century. The nearest village to the M1 Gyumri is 14 km away Maralik from which a road leads east across Pemzaschen to Artik. The rocky and overgrown with grass hills are used as pasture for cattle and sheep.

History

The area has been inhabited since pre-Christian times, such as a snake or dragon stones show ( Vishap - stones), which were worshiped as idols. In the 1st millennium BC was a Urartian trade route from the north to the Ararat plain probably along the present road at Mastara over. Its history is intrinsically linked to his Church. The name Mastara is according to the local tradition of the two words mas, " a piece " and tara, " I buried " composed and reminiscent of Gregory the Illuminator, the relic of St. John brought the beginning of the 4th century the Baptist from Caesarea and the place of the altar should have buried. The place name may be derived from mar and t -ar -a, " of God " or " God duly ". In any case, it's like the origin legends of many Armenian churches about to lead the St. Gregory the earliest and most important preachers of the Armenian Apostolic Christianity as the founder.

In a poorly preserved Greek inscription on the south wall of the church, the word Peroz was identified which shall refer to the Sassanid rulers Peroz I, who reigned 459-484. This would mean the completion ( a precursor ) of the present church and thus the existence of the town in the 5th century. Another inscription refers to the Bishop Theodoros Gnuni who had participated in the Council of Dwin 645. Consequently, the church could have been built in the middle of the 7th century. Until the 19th century, the enclosing walls of a fortress, which was built around the Church in the Middle Ages and talk together with burial sites and other finds for the former importance of the place were. In the 18th century, the cemetery was surrounded by a high fence. The priest of the village had the fence removed in 1889 and get ready the environment, as evidenced by an inscription on the south wall of the Ostkonche. In 1935, the church was closed for believers and served during the Soviet era as a cattle shed. It was reopened as a church in 1993.

Townscape

In the census of 2001, the official population was given as 2581. According to official statistics, in January 2012 lived 2652 inhabitants in Mastara.

The compact town center determine storey farmhouses with hipped roofs made ​​of fiber cement panels, stables and gardens behind walls along curvy routes the image. In the gardens thrive poplars and fruit trees. There is a secondary school and along the thoroughfare several grocery stores and a pharmacy. The St. John's Church stands in a walled district located in the city. Just south of it lies a small and simple hall church ( Surb Nshan ) with a barrel vault from the early Christian period between the houses. It owns the shrine for Tukh Manuk, a surviving from the pre-Christian folklore figure of a black youth. At the cemetery a few grave stones from the medieval period. The ruins of a chapel nave probably dating from the 7th century and Chatschkare from the 10th, 12th and 17th centuries were also obtained there.

On a hill northeast of the village are the ruins of a fortress with a single-nave church ( Surb Stephanos ) from the 10th/11th. Find century.

St. John's Church

Origin and Distribution

The St. John's Church ( Surb Hovanes ) is a central domed church with four apses. Already the oldest Armenian central buildings of the 5th century had in the center a square structure was covered by a dome with an intermediate cylindrical drum. The extension of this most basic form was carried out by conches on each side, which not only enlarged the interior, but also the shear forces of the dome better could be derived sideways. Such Tetrakonchos formed the basis for the development of the central buildings in the Armenian architecture. As role models from outside is referred to Syria and Mesopotamia, about the churches of Seleucia Pieria Tetrakonchen - ( mid 6th century ) or Resafa (early 6th century ).

The oldest surviving Tetrakonchos in Armenia is the construction of the Cathedral of Etchmiadzin ( Echmiadzin II) to 485, which has four free-standing central pillar and thus corresponds to the completely ruined cathedral of Bagaran from the 630 model years. In addition, in the 7th century small triconch churches were built without central pillars as the Mother of God Church of talin or Monokonchen also with cruciform ground plan as Lmbatavank or Kamrawor Church of Ashtarak. The Church of Mastara constitutes a development in which the dome diameter was significantly enlarged. Through its clear form, and their chronology, which is brought forward by some researchers to the middle of the 6th century, it stands for a as " Mastara type " designated group of central buildings.

When Mastara type the conches contact center beyond the rectangular plan and the eastern conch is surrounded by adjoining rooms, which is why talk of a partially clad construction. This model are the Sergiuskirche in Artik, Mother of God Church in Woskepar (Province Tavush ), the Gregor church of the monastery Haritschawank (all 7th century ), the abbey church of Soradir ( near the Lake Van ) and the Cathedral of Kars ( 10th century ) attributed.

A further enlargement and static improvement is the " Awan - Hripsime type " dar. Here was, as in the two namesakes, the Cathedral of Awan (district of Yerevan ) and the Hripsime Church of Echmiadzin, the floor plan by side rooms in all four corners extended to form a square outside the building structure. However, these much more complex shapes can not be placed flat rate in a time line of development in accordance with the Mastara type as 1918 required Josef Strzygowski for its architectural evolution. In fact, the various forms must have formed side by side, because the Mastara Church can not be more precise than in the mid-7th century lane while Awan at 600 and Hripsime is dated 618.

Design

The building is nearly symmetrical and measures 11.2 × 12 meters inside. All four of the square shape protruding semicircular apses are surrounded by a pentagonal outer wall. Their width is about five feet inside. The eastern apse is flanked only in their lower area of rectangular side rooms, the low-pitched shed roofs ranging up to half the height of the outside walls. The octagonal drum is divided on the wall perpendicular cut corners by niches. You are about to squinches and contribute at this point for weight reduction. The dome is covered by a pyramid roof.

The two portals in the west and the southern conch are surrounded by wide blind arches on four-membered columns with cubic capitals. A similar portal design, but with double columns was widespread in the 7th century. An arched window is located in each straight wall of the main building and in the walls of the main cylinder. In addition to the usual horseshoe-shaped ornament friezes above the windows, the west window is highlighted by an unusual ornament. Over the window arch, another arch that frames a box with an inscription and a cross relief spans. The window arches are decorated with a rich wealth of forms: including horseshoe-shaped strips, plaited bands, vines and fluting. Cornices with horseshoe arches form the eaves on the main building and at the reel.

Inside alternate at the junction of the main cylinder walls hemispheres over the eight conches with eight major squinches in the corners off. Immediately above is followed by eight smaller squinches, which lead to the inner wall 16 of the main cylinder fields, each of which is illuminated by a second round arch windows. Above the row of windows give 16 even smaller vaulted gusset to a 32-page transition zone to the base circle of the dome. Twelve narrow ribs extend radially through the dome and one of the few ornamental outlines. The side rooms are accessible through doors from the nave. In the presumably derived from an older building lintels of the entrances to the adjoining rooms, the glorification of the cross is to be seen. The scene remained incomplete and shows only an angel before the cross. The northern side room is equipped with a semicircular apse, sacristy in the south with a straight east wall serves as a wardrobe and storage of ritual objects.

The walls are plastered to a large extent. Remains of paintings are no longer or never existed. The church is set up for worship. It is light and spacious. A wooden gallery over the western third of the space is accessible by wooden stairs on both sides.

Inscriptions

In seven inscriptions the name of the client Grigoras Siwni is called. Who he was is not known. For the dating of the most important is the inscription on a stone over the arch frieze of the south window. Your translation is: " At the time of Mr. Theodoros Bishop of Gnunikh, the divine house was built at the unworthy Grigoras to redeem. "

From Bishop Theodoros Gnuni ( Gnunikh ) it is known that he had participated in 645 Dwin the council. This Strzygowski and almost all subsequent researchers will conduct the dating of the church from the middle of the 7th century. In no inscription, however, is the dedication of the original building. Received, later added building inscriptions usually repeat word for word earlier inscriptions or give mutatis mutandis earlier events took place again. Building inscriptions were as preservers of tradition going back as long as possible a building for self-identification of the community is important and where there has been a new building was necessary, taken as spoils. Copies are made ​​generally only when the church building was destroyed along with its inscriptions. Ulrich Bock, therefore, has doubts about the age determination and suggests a creation during the period of replacement inscriptions from the 9th century.

An inscription mentions the restoration of the church in the year 891 by Sargis, a son of the priest Artawasd, other inscriptions from the years 1010 and 1015 in the two inscriptions in the arch above the west window is: . "By God's help to the monks Grigoras was the shelter built. " and: " This cathedral is a bride crowned with the cross as a crown, she worked as a bride of Christ, as the bride guests the apostles, prophets and martyrs, they protected us through the centuries and redeems Grigoras ".