Armenpress

TURKISH-ARMENIAN CLERGYMAN PRAISES TURKISH AUTHORITIES FOR RESTORATION OF
ARMENIAN MONUMENTS

YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, ARMENPRESS: Sahak Mashalian from the Armenian
Patriarchate in Istanbul praised Turkish authorities for their latest
endeavors to restore some of Armenian historical and cultural monuments
scattered across Eastern Anatolia, citing, particularly, the recently
launched restoration of Holy t Cross Armenian church on Akhtamar Island in
Lake Van denying also allegations that restoration may result in distortion
or remodeling of Armenian churches into mosques.
“Just on the contrary, we have to encourage these endeavors of the
Turkish authorities,” he told Armenpress, adding also that the Turkish
authorities have given up their policy of rebuilding Christian churches into
mosques. Father Sahak Mashalian said the Saint Cross Church on Akhtamar
island is preserved better than other Armenian churches, ascribing this to
its being located on an island. He said the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey
has dispatched a local Armenian architect to supervise the restoration work.
Eastern Turkey was once a heartland of Armenian culture with millions of
Armenians living there at the turn of the 19th century. They were all killed
and driven out at the beginning of the 20-th century. The Holy Cross church
was one of the most important churches of those ancient Armenian lands. It
was built by Armenian King Gagik I of Vaspurakan and inaugurated in A.D.
921. Gagik’s historian described it as being near a harbor and a palace with
gilded cupolas, peacefully surrounded by the lake. Only the church survived.
By 1113, the church had become the center of the Armenian Patriarchate of
Akhtamar and the center of a renowned school of scribal art and
illumination. Considered one of the most important examples of Armenian
architecture, the church has elaborate reliefs projecting up to 4 inches
from brownish-red sandstone walls, almost like sculptures. Some depict
biblical stories, such as Jonah being swallowed by the whale and Daniel in
the lion’s den.