Marmashen Monastery

Marmashen (Armenian Մարմաշեն ), also Marmashen Vank, is a former monastery in the northwestern Armenian province of Shirak near the city of Gyumri. Predominantly remained three cross-domed churches from the 11th century. Then there are the ruins of two other churches of that time and traces of a Gawits from the 13th century. The special quality of the architectural sculpture refers to the school of the former Armenian capital of Ani.

Location

40.84268888888943.755780555556Koordinaten: 40 ° 50 ' 34 "N, 43 ° 45' 21" E

The monastery Marmashen is located a few kilometers from the Turkish border in a picturesque valley of Akhurian ( Axurean ), a left tributary of the Aras. The side road to Amaziah, the branching direction in the city of Gyumri of the leading M1 to Georgia to the northwest, through a flat country with grain and potato fields and happens after eight kilometers, the left hand situated village Marmashen. Two kilometers further, in the next village Vahramberd, branches off at an acute angle to the left a road from that first zuhält on the altitude back to the south of the village Marmashen and then leading after 2.5 km you will reach in a few switchbacks to the valley of the monastery. The direct distance between the monastery and the village of the same name is less than a kilometer.

While the rocky and dry in the summer slopes are grazed by cattle, an oasis -like strip extends into the valley with green vegetation by surface groundwater. The monastery buildings are surrounded by trees, a little upriver reaches a plantation with apple trees to the river, which has cut here in a narrow gorge. About 100 meters below the monastery is the river that flows around the monastery in an arc to the west, dammed by a small dam.

The village with 2155 inhabitants Marmashen according to official statistics from January 2012 is in the plane above the monastery. The town has existed since the early 20th century at the latest. It consists of agricultural farms with vegetable gardens, cowsheds and at the edge of a settlement with old makeshift shelters that had been set up for homeless earthquake of Spitak in 1988.

In the Bronze Age ( 3rd millennium BC ) the valley of the Akhurian turned north-west of Gyumri an old transport route dar. Early Bronze Age settlements ( Haritschawank ) were discovered inter alia in Gyumri, Marmashen, Vahramaberd, Horom and Haritsch. The Urartian stored in the 1st millennium BC, a series of forts to the level of Tsaghkahovit southeast of here on. Inscriptions of the Urartian king Argišti I (reigned about 785-753 BC) were found in Spandarian ( at Artik ) and on the rocky slope below the village Marmashen.

History

In the 9th century, the Bagratides took advantage of a weakness of the Arab Caliphate of Baghdad, which had until then exercised suzerainty over northern Armenia, and crowned Ashot I. to the first Armenian king of Bagratidendynastie, which is now ruled from Ani from. With the economic heyday that followed in the 10th century produced some monasteries which served as fortified bases of the Armenian princes. The building of the first plants were grouped around relatively small jacketed cross-domed churches, whose cross-shaped ground plan is included in the Reckteck the exterior walls. Their model was the 911 dated, now lying in ruins Church of Karkop in the province Wajoz Dzor. Around the middle of the 11th century saw the ensembles of outbuildings around a larger central church, as in the monasteries Sanahin, Tatev, in Marmashen, which was particularly favored by its location in the fertile Akhurian Valley, in Chtsgonk and Horomos ( the latter two in today's Turkish province of Kars ). The monasteries were also cultural centers and defenses at the edges of the control area.

The expansion of Marmashen of an early Christian chapel in a monastery is attributed to Gagik I ( 904-937 ). Under his later successor Smbat II (r. 977-989 ) was completed in the great Cathedral of Ani and as declared by the historian Samuel of Ani a single building in the years 989 to 994 Cathedral ( Katoghike ) of Marmashen was in Marmashen after a 1029 dated inscription on the south facade this year inaugurated. From the inscription it appears that Prince Vahlam Pahlavuni (967-1045), the leader ( Sparapet ) of the army of the king of Ani, the monastery was built, and no information is given to the previously existing buildings. The Pahlavunis Marmashen selected as the burial of their family. The Pahlavuni dynasty was a branch of Bagratides with which they fought for power in the kingdom. 1041 succeeded Vahlam to fend off the attacking Ani Byzantine troops before this in 1045 but took the city.

A little later, Ani fell to the Rumseldschuken who plundered the monastery Marmashen 1064. In the first half of the 13th century, the prince of the dynasty Zakariden ruled as vassals of the Georgian kings in the region until 1236 were the Mongols tribute. An inscription on the north wall of the cathedral mentioned the restoration of the monastery by Archbishop Grigor and his brother Gharid, grandson of Vahlam, in 1225 It also contains information on the type of gifts -. Of furnishing and ceremonial objects up to fields and villages, donors could come to the monastery. In the troubled period 1220-1403, the population suffered a total of 15 raids of the Mongols. More invasions by the Kurdish warlords, Seljuks and Ottomans below and earthquakes in 1139, 1275, 1668 and 1926 destroyed gradually enclosing walls and outbuildings that were never repaired, until finally it was one single parish church.

Until 1888 began on the initiative of the Catholicos Mkrtitsch Chrimjan limited repair work, where you exchanged some stone blocks and changed the canopy of the main church. The British traveler Henry Finnis Mere Lynch (1862-1913) reported on the poor condition of the churches. He found the building unkempt, surrounded by rubble and grown with bushes, but he saw apple orchards nearby. On a map published in his 1901 travelogue, although the canopy of the main church is present, the off -standing smaller St. Petros Church is against decay strongly. An illustration in the travelogue Josef Strzygowski who visited Marmashen 1913, shows the same degree of destruction of the two smaller churches. When the Turks in 1920 Alexandropol, today's Gyumri conquered, they should have reportedly looted the monastery.

In the Soviet period after 1945 some restoration work was carried out. Between 1950 and 1954, the tuffs on the roof of the Cathedral were completely replaced by new stone slabs. Further work to 1957 some remains of walls of outbuildings appeared. Following the former restoration practice smoothed the material is re- used less carefully in order to distinguish it from the original stock can. In the 1990s, Italian restorers began in Marmashen and other monuments in the region to investigate and fix the following in 1988 caused by the earthquake of Spitak damage. The west facade of the cathedral had the connection to the north and south walls partially lost due to the earthquake, further traversed a wide crack the dome. The team of the Centro Studi e della Cultura Dokumentazione Armena ( CSDCA ) brought a steel cable to absorb the tensile forces on the walls and the cupola, fallen stones replaced in masonry and filled the cracks with mortar.

Monastery

Good condition the main church Katoghike in the town center and the smaller St. Petros church ( "Southern Church " ) are some meters south. The adjoining the main church in the north Mother of God Church ( Surb Astvatsatsin, " North Church " ) is partially destroyed. From the fourth church, a round church in the West ( "Western Church " ), only the foundations remain. About 150 meters north of this group is still a wall remains of a fifth church. In the 1950s, parts of the city walls were uncovered, which once surrounded the monastery. The name Marmashen to be corrupted by Marmara 's ( " made ​​of marble " ), even though no marble, but only pink volcanic tuff was used.

The "School of Ani " be assigned to other buildings mainly to Ani and in today's region of Shirak stylistic, including next Marmashen the monastery church of Argina (beyond the Turkish border ), the churches Taylar near the monastery Horomos, Schirakawan 25 km north-east of Ani and Makaravank at Pemzaschen.

Katoghike

Probably in 1029 completed the main church Katoghike, also Surb Stepanos (Saint Stephen ) is a rectangular jacketed cross-domed church, in which the position of the semicircular altar apse and the side arms is in the north and south by broad V-shaped recesses on the outer walls. Four in the nave space projecting, multi-unit wall pillars, two of which are very close to the eastern apse are interconnected by transverse arches. Then rest of the round inside and outside twelve-sided drum. This design is one of the archaic domed halls, the most important precursor remained from the 7th century with the ruins of Arutsch and Ptghni. In the corners Pendentifs provide for the transition from the square to the base circle of the main cylinder. The lower part of the apse back wall is divided by a series of blind arches, between which stepped niches are recessed. The wall corners side of the apse are filled by rectangular side rooms with horseshoe-shaped apses. They are accessible from the sides of the apse. The only entrance is on the west side.

Outside surmounted a canopy, the central dome. Its jagged, multi-level eaves sits with the bottom corners on tripartite pillars bundles, which define the twelve panels of the main cylinder from each other. Windows are located only in the four cardinal directions, the remaining wall surfaces are not articulated, so that the two prongs strips at the top corners and the composite of Tori and rollers capitals emerge more clearly plastic. A corresponding structure have the reels of Katoghike Church of Amberd ( Surb Astvatsatsin, dated 1026) of the same contractor and the Sergiuskirche the monastery Chtsgonk.

To all exterior walls performs a Blendarkatur whose arcs carry away increased over the triangular niches and windows in the central fields something. In the south facade is framed by a tripartite pillars bundles arched windows in the north and west facade rectangular windows are decorated by wide rectangular enclosures, which include a fine membered vegetable ornament with circle shapes and swastika webs. The wall area under the south window is taken across the width of the inscription of Prince Vahram. For the design of rectangular- framed with a dentil frieze band portal in the west part of a lintel stone with palmettes and button bands. The main church is used for worship.

The roof form a stem emerges on the west wall. Here stood a square Gawit with four central pillars, which was probably built in the 13th century and served as a burial place for Vahram, his wife Sophia and other members of Pahlavuni Dynasty. A memorial stone by the end of the 19th century on the northeast corner of the former Gawits to mark the grave Vahrams.

Mother of God Church

Close to the north wall of the main church is the only partly preserved Mother of God Church ( Surb Astvatsatsin ), which is a repeat of the Stephen Church in a smaller scale and probably originated in the same time. The drum and large parts of northern and western facade are gone, the remaining masonry is secured from further decay. The drum was circular and had a conical roof. The Blendarkatur is also a scaled down version of those. Along the main church

St. - Petros Church

The southern separately standing house of worship is a cross-domed church, the cross-shaped floor plan is contained in a rectangle of four straight outer walls. The four corners are filled in by barrel- vaulted rectangular side rooms, each with semicircular apses. The roofs surmounted a relatively large cylindrical drum with a conical roof. Except for a post- mounted, rectangular relief frieze around the window slot on the west side of the facades are almost unadorned. Only the only entrance to the west is underlined by a plastic protruding arch to lateral double -wall columns. It is probably the oldest church of the ensemble to which the historian Samuel could obtain from Ani.

Round Church

From the round church in the West getreppte base zone and partly the lower row of stones of the outer wall were obtained with a three -stepped bead profile. Thus, it was a circular sheathed Tetrakonchos with four rectangular side rooms. The access was in the West. The layout follows the Sergiuskirche ( Surb Sargis ) of Chtsgonk, which was built as specified by the historian Samuel of Ani 1029. The same date is assumed for this round church. There is some doubt whether it was ever completed.

A rectangular wall structure between the round church and the remains of the Gawit is interpreted as a mausoleum.

Chapel

On the hill to the north are the remains of a chapel with a cross-shaped, non-coated floor plan. You probably arose simultaneously with the other churches and had a cylindrical drum and a dome. From her part of the north wall is obtained with a transverse arches. To the ruins are some fragments of medieval Chatschkare scattered. Most of the large grave stones at the ruins date from the 19th century.