GEORGIAN AUTHORITIES CONTINUE DESTROYING HISTORICAL-CULTURAL HERITAGE OF ARMENIAN JAVAKHK
ArmInfo
2010-04-22 12:34:00
ArmInfo. The Armenian church of Surb Yerevman (The Epiphany) in
Georgia’s mostly Armenian region, Javakheti, may soon disappear:
the Georgian authorities have permitted using the stones of this
ancient church (7th century AD) for construction purposes.
The statement by the community of Javakheti Armenians of Russia says
that the altar and one of the chapels have already been destroyed.
"We can still save the cross-stones in Armenian," the authors of the
statement say.
The coordinator of the Yerevan Office of the Research on Armenian
Architecture NGO Samvel Karapetyan qualifies this as attempt of the
Georgian authorities to wipe out this Armenian monument from the
historical map of the region. This facility belongs to the Armenian
Apostolic Church. In 1828, during the Russian-Turkish war, the dome
of the Church was ruined by a gun. Today, its cross-stones are being
steadily destroyed. Karapetyan says that the Georgian authorities
are consistently destroying the Armenian monuments located in gorges
near the Armenian-Georgian border – a territory that once was part of
Gugark province of historical Armenia. The Georgian authorities are
keeping local Armenians away from the church. Karapetyan believes
that the goal of this vandalic act is to change the genesis of the
Armenian cultural-historical monuments of the region.