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Church of the Holy Apostles (Ani)

Coordinates: 40°30′32″N 43°34′14″E / 40.508798°N 43.570685°E / 40.508798; 43.570685
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40°30′32″N 43°34′14″E / 40.508798°N 43.570685°E / 40.508798; 43.570685

In-situ reconstruction. Top: current ruins (Seljuk gavit to the left, ruins of the Armenian church to the right). Bottom: reconstruction.

The Church of the Holy Apostles, also Arak’elots (Armenian: Սուրբ Առաքելոց եկեղեցի, Surb Arakelots yekeghets’i),[1] is an important ecclesiastical monument of the ruined city of Ani, modern Turkey, on the border with Armenia.[2]

The church is composed in two parts: the church itself, now largely ruined, and the columned gavit in front of it, remaining in large part.[2]

The remains of the gavit are clearly derived from Seljuk architectural designs.[3]

The church (c. 1031)

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The church itself was built before 1031, date of a now lost inscription over the south entrance to the church, which was left by Abughamir Pahlavuni, a local Armenian prince.[2] The plan of the church is essentially classical Armenian, forming an inscribed quadriconch, with the four cardinal axes each terminating in an apse.[2] This type of plan was already known in the 6th-7th centuris as a Jvari-type in Georgian and Hripsime-type in Armenian architecture.[1] The church plan is also unique in that it is composed of five domes: four smaller domes in the corner chapels, and one large central dome.[1] This slightly archaising architectural type is typical of earlier periods in Georgia and Armenia, and is found again in the Aghtamar, built in 915–921, the Otkhta Eklesia built in 960–980, or in the neighbouring King Gagik's church of St Gregory in Ani, built in 1001. Some surfaces were decorated with acanthus designs, another archaising trait.[2] The dedicatory inscription in Armenian on top of the entrance to the church reads:[4]

In 480 (i.e. 1031), by the Grace of God, I, Abughamir, son of Vahram, Prince of Princes, have given the camp of Carnut to the Saint Apostoles, for the health and prolongation of the life of my brother Grigor.

  • The church before the construction of the gavit in front
    The church before the construction of the gavit in front
  • Detailed plan of the church
    Detailed plan of the church
  • Entrance gate of the old church with a lintel decorated with acanthus leaves, and a dedicatory inscription. View from outside the church, from inside the gavit
    Entrance gate of the old church with a lintel decorated with acanthus leaves, and a dedicatory inscription. View from outside the church, from inside the gavit
  • Gate of the old church, viewed from inside the church
    Gate of the old church, viewed from inside the church
  • Remains of the Church (interior to north apse)
    Remains of the Church (interior to north apse)

The gavit or narthex (1031-1215)

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Seljuk-style muqarnas at the entrance portal of the Church of the Holy Apostles (east façade of the gavit, built after the 1031 church, but before 1215, date of the earliest inscription on the gavit). This design is similar to the tomb of Mama Hatun at Tercan, c.1200.[5][6][1]
Reconstruction of the inside of the gavit, by Toros Toramanian.[7]
Plan of gavit. Ruined parts in grey.

Having a columned gavit or zhamatun at the entrance of a church, where it serves as an entrance room to the church and an assembly room or mausoleum, is a very common occurrence in Armenia, but the gavit of the Church of the Holy Apostles at Ani is very original in that it uses the styles of Seljuk architecture, rather than traditional Armenian medieval architecture. The gavit or zhamatun of the Church of the Holy Apostles was built later than the church (which was built around 1031, date of its first inscription), but before 1215, date of the earliest dated inscription visible on the walls of the gavit. It clearly derived from Seljuk architectural designs.[2][3] The plan of the gavit is rather typical of Armenian medieval architecture, formed from two perpendicular pairs of arches leaving a central square vault with a central oculus.[2] The central square vault is decorated with muqarnas stone "stalactites".[2] Only the eastern face of the gavit remains.[2] It is composed of a central porch with a muqarnas niche, flanked by four thin niches, triangular in section. The surface of the wall is decorated with a geometric interlace of eight-pointed stars.[2]

The overall design of this wall is very similar to the design of the gate of the Mama Hatun mausoleum at Tercan, dated to c. 1200, and belonging to the Seljuk Saltukids dynasty.[2] The vault design is also similar to that of the Bagnayr Monastery, which is dated by an inscription to 1201, supporting a date of around 1200 for the zhamatun of the Church of the Holy Apostoles.[8]

In 1064, the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan took the city of Ani from the Byzantines (who had themselves taken it from the Bagratids barely twenty years earlier in 1045).[9] The Seljuks then gave the city as a concession to their vassal, the Turkified Kurdic dynasty of the Shaddadids, in 1072.[9][10] The first Shaddadid Bey of Ani, called Ebul Manuçehr (ruled c. 1072-1118) claimed to have rebuilt Ani, and therefore took the title "Emir Ebu’l Muammeran".[9] He left what is called today the "Emir Ebu’l Muammeran Complex" at Ani. His son Shaddadid Şahinşah (r.1118–1124) built a small mosque at the center of the complex, between 1164 and 1200.[9] The mosque was destroyed completely in 1917, and only some ruins of the minaret remain.[9] The Georgians made multiple attempts to recover the city, until Queen Tamar succeeded in 1199 CE.[9]

The style of the vault is considered as similar to that of the Menucihr Mosque at the entrance of the citadel at Ani, built between 1072 and 1086 by the first Shaddadids ruler of Ani Manuchihr ibn Shavur, suggesting broadly similar dates and circumstances.[11] A stylistically similar structure also exists at Horomos Monastery, the "Mausoleum of Aruits", built in 1277 as identified by an inscription.

  • Eastern entrance gate with muqarnas
    Eastern entrance gate with muqarnas
  • Eastern side of the Seljuk gavit, with entrance
    Eastern side of the Seljuk gavit, with entrance
  • Plan of the church and the gavit. The church followed a traditional Byzantine design, while the gavit in front of it was in Seljuk caravanserai style.
    Plan of the church and the gavit. The church followed a traditional Byzantine design, while the gavit in front of it was in Seljuk caravanserai style.
  • Design of the roof of the gavit. Muqarnas door to the right, roof with three ceiling boxes and an ex-centered vault.
    Design of the roof of the gavit. Muqarnas door to the right, roof with three ceiling boxes and an ex-centered vault.
  • Entrance with Muqarna (viewed from the inside)
    Entrance with Muqarna (viewed from the inside)
  • Vault design with 360° Muqarna
    Vault design with 360° Muqarna

Adoption of muqarnas styles in Armenian art

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Armenian architecture in the 13th century also made use of muqarnas decorative elements, and sometimes had complete muqarnas vaults with a central erdik or oculus, spurred by the influence of contemporary Islamic architecture.[12] Examples of this can be found in the Geghard Monastery, Gandzasar Monastery, or Astvatsankal Monastery (all in present-day Armenia),[13] and at the Church of St Gregory of the Illuminator or the Bagnayr Monastery in Ani.[14] In many of these examples, muqarnas vaults are recurring features in the gavits (narthexes) of the churches, which were the locus of much innovation and experimentation in medieval Armenian architecture.[13] These borrowings of Islamic architectural motifs may have been due to either Ilkhanid or Seljuk influences in the region, although the wide geographic spread of muqarnas usage in this period makes it difficult to pinpoint any specific influence with certainty.[14]

The muqarnas motif was clearly inspired by Islamic sources, but it was used differently, and the Armenian muqarnas vault with oculus was not found in the Muslim world until it was copied about a century later, as in the vault of the Yakutiye Madrasa in nearby Erzurum (1310).[15]

Il-Khanate imperial decrees

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Stone charter of the Il-Khanate, in the Armenian language. Holy Apostles church (gavit), 1276.[16][17]

Ani was under Armenian Zakarid and nominal Georgian control for a few decades after 1199, until the Mongol conquests of 1236. The Zakarids submitted to the Mongols and were allowed to retain their lands, but remained under Mongol suzerainty, especially after 1256 when the Il-khanate formally absorded Armenia. The Il-khante managed taxation, and there are several inscriptions at the Church of the Holy apostle, dealing with tax edicts in the name of the Il-khan.[17]

From around 1260, with the Mongol Il-Khanate control of the city and suzerainty over the local Zakarid dynasty, the gavit seems to have been use as some sort of legal office in charge of taxes and import duties. Several official announcements, often yarlighs (imperial decrees), using the formulation "[In the name of] the Ilkhan", have been inscribed on the walls of the gavit.[16] In these inscriptions the Armenian language is used, but the format and even the terminology are Mongol.[16]

An inscription in the name of the Il-Khan is dated 1269, and reports the cancellation of taxes:

718 (ie 1269). (In the name) of the Il-khan.
By the grace of God, we, customs officers, for the longevity of our masters, Sahip-Divan, Sahmad and Qarimadin, have removed from Ani the tax for priests that this city did not pay not originally; we confirm (this exemption again). No one has the right to demand tax, whatever nationality or family he may be. The one who [said] otherwise or who bothers to [request] the tax, is cursed by the 318 Fathers; those who observe] (this) are blessed by God. I[srael the writer].

— Inscription of 1269.[18]

Another one in 1276:

In 725 (ie 1276). (In the name) of the Il-khan.
For the longevity of the Padishah and the Saïp-Divan,[19] we, customs officers of Ani: Hindutchakh, (who) is the son of the lord judge, Oussup from Za[ta], Gorg from Nouât, and the mercer Baulé, and the gdrik of the oven, we gave this writing to the controllers (?) of Ani, having noticed that they were encouraged by unfair customs officials, and we have removed (them). They perceived on each beast of burden half of its charge (?); we, the aforementioned customs officers, have abolished (this) for the longevity of the Padishah.

— Inscription in the name of the Il-Khan (1276).[17][16]

Also in the name of the Il-Khan, an inscription by Bishop Mkhithar, dated to circa 1276, under the authority of dom Sargis and Malik Phakhradin, prohibiting commerce on Sundays in the street, following an earthquake that year (located in one of the alcoves of the gavit).[20]

In the name of the Il-khan. By the grace of God, under the government of this city, under the superiority of Dom Sarguis, and under the authority of the melik Phakhradin, I Bishop Mkhithar, originally from Teglier, because of the earthquake that took place these days, we have eliminated the Sunday trade in the street. [He who] opposes this writing, great or small, is responsible for sins of this city.[20]

Other inscriptions

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Other important inscriptions in the Church of the Holy Apostles include:

Inscription of 1217, by Archibishop dom Grigor, son of Apughamr.[21]
  • A 1217 inscription by Archibishop dom Grigor, son of Apughamr, announcing the cancellation of taxes for Shirak Province and the churches of Ani.[21]
  • A 1253-1276 inscription by Agbugha I, son of Shahnshah I lamenting about high taxes in Ani (this is the inscription just above the gate of the gavit, above the muqarnas decoration).[22]
  • A 1303 inscription by Agbugha II, son of Ivane II, lamenting about the high level of taxes, and announcing the cancellation of several of them.[23]
  • A 1320 inscription by Princess Kuandze, wife of Shahnshah II Zakarian (inside the gavit, on the inside of the arcade next to the gate of the church).[24]
  • A 1348 inscription by a certain Chapadin, son of Hovhannes, donating gift for the monks of the church (inside wall of the gavit).[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Akture, Zeynep (2019). Unesco World Herıtage ın Turkey 2019. Unesco. pp. 466–477.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Eastmond, Antony (Oxford University PhD in the art of medieval Georgia in the Caucasus). "Church of the Holy Apostles". Crossing Frontiers. The Courtauld Institute of Art in London.
  3. ^ a b Eastmond, Antony (1 January 2014). "Inscriptions and Authority in Ani". Der Doppeladler. Byznanz und die Seldschuken in Anatolien vom späten 11. Bis zum 13. Jahrhundert, eds. Neslihan Austay-Effenberger, Falko Daim: 81. This was an early 11th-century church that was expanded in the early 13th century by the addition of a gavit on its southern side. In form this building was clearly indebted to Seljuq architectural designs, both for the overall structure of its porch (fig. 10), and for the muqarnas construction of its central dome. The architectural similarities highlight the importance of texts as a means of articulating identity in Ani when so many other facets of the contemporary environment were almost indistinguishable from that of the Seljuq world around them.
  4. ^ Basmadjian, K . J . (31 December 2010). Graffin, René (ed.). "Les Inscriptions Arméniennes D'ani". Revue de l'Orient Chrétien (1896-1946): 354. doi:10.31826/9781463220853-025. ISBN 978-1-4632-2085-3. [En 180, par la grâce de Dieu, moi, Apoughamr, fils de Vahram, prince des princes, j'ai donné] le champ [de Ca]rnout aux [Saints-Apôtres, pour la santé et la prolongation [de la vie de mon frère Grigor.]
  5. ^ Eastmond, Antony (1 January 2017). Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. p. 293. doi:10.1017/9781316711774.011. The only parallels to them come from the Christian monuments of the Caucasus, such as the zhamatun of the church of the Holy Apostles in Ani, and the Akhlati-built Sitte Melik in Divrigi.
  6. ^ Eastmond, Antony (PhD in the art of medieval Georgia in the Caucasus, Oxford University). "Church of the Holy Apostles". Crossing Frontiers. The Courtauld Institute of Art, London.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Marouti, Andreh (2018). Preservation of the architectural heritage of Armenia: a history of its evolution from the perspective of the early 19th century european travelers to the scientific preservation of the soviet period by Andreh Marouti · 3035215335 · OA.mg. Faculty of Preservation of Architectural Heritage Department of DASTU Politecnico di Milano. p. 136, Fig.18.
  8. ^ Eastmond, Antony (1 January 2017). Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. p. 300. doi:10.1017/9781316711774.011. Many of these overlaps come together in one building, the zhamatun that was added to the early eleventh-century church of the Holy Apostles in Ani some time shortly before 1217 (the earliest inscription on the building). Note 25: A date of around 1200 is supported by the similarity of the vaulting of the zhamatun of the monastery at Bagnayr, where the earliest inscription dates to 1201.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Archaeological Site of Ani (Turkey) No 1518". Unesco. pp. 176–177.
  10. ^ Watenpaugh, Heghnar Zeitlian (2014). "Preserving the Medieval City of Ani: Cultural Heritage between Contest and Reconciliation". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 73 (4): 532. doi:10.1525/jsah.2014.73.4.528. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 10.1525/jsah.2014.73.4.528.
  11. ^ Eastmond, Antony (1 January 2017). Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. p. 130, note 15. doi:10.1017/9781316711774.007. This date is based on the similarity between its stone vaults and those of the zhamatun of the church of the Holy Apostles, which has a terminus ante quem of 1217, determined by the earliest surviving inscription there: Orbeli, Corpus Inscriptionum Armenicarum, no. 56; Basmadjian, Inscriptions armeniennes d'Ani, no. 49.
  12. ^ Maranci, Christina (2018). The Art of Armenia: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-19-026901-2.
  13. ^ a b Ghazarian, Armen; Ousterhout, Robert (2001). "A Muqarnas Drawing from Thirteenth-Century Armenia and the Use of Architectural Drawings during the Middle Ages". Muqarnas. 18: 146. doi:10.2307/1523305. ISSN 0732-2992. JSTOR 1523305.
  14. ^ a b Guidetti, Mattia (2017). "The 'Islamicness' of Some Decorative Patterns in the Church of Tigran Honents in Ani". In Blessing, Patricia (ed.). Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia, 1100-1500. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-1130-1.
  15. ^ Eastmond, Antony (1 January 2017). Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. p. 297. doi:10.1017/9781316711774.011. The most obvious architectural form that was adopted in Armenian churches was the muqarnas vault. A fine example is the complex muqarnas that was used to build up the central vault of the zhamatun at Harichavank, which was added to the main church in the monastery by 1219. The origin of this type of vaulting clearly comes from Islamic sources, but it is used very differently here. There are no comparable examples in the Islamic world of using it to form complete vaults with an oculus in the centre. Throughout Anatolia in this period muqarnas were used to form niche heads. It was used for domes elsewhere in the Islamic world, as at Nur al-Din Zangi's 1174 hospital in Damascus, but conceived very differently: the monastic muqarnas are structurally pendentives, whereas the Damascus dome is a succession of stucco squinches. A generation later the Armenian use of muqarnas was re-imported into the Muslim world, and buildings such as the Yakutiye Madrasa in Erzurum (1310) copied the idea of a muqarnas vault around an oculus.
  16. ^ a b c d Eastmond, Antony (1 January 2014). "Inscriptions and Authority in Ani". Der Doppeladler. Byznanz und die Seldschuken in Anatolien vom späten 11. Bis zum 13. Jahrhundert, eds. Neslihan Austay-Effenberger, Falko Daim: 81. By the 1260s, at which time Ani was under Ilkhanid rule, the gavit seems to have acted as a central deposit for legal affairs, especially those concerning taxes and import duties. The interior and exterior of the building are replete with inscriptions recording changes to levies – usually the alleviation of taxes, but occasionally impositions (such as the ban on Sunday street trading after the earthquake). These texts show a marked difference from the earlier Shaddadid inscriptions in the city about trade. Whereas those inscriptions were in Persian, these are all in Armenian, despite their ultimate authority coming from Iran. Indeed six of the inscriptions begin their texts with the words "[In the name of] the Ilkhan". They even adopt Mongolian terms, notably the word yarligh (imperial decree) which appears in the inscription of 1270.
  17. ^ a b c Basmadjian, K.J. (1922–23). Graffin, René (ed.). "LES INSCRIPTIONS ARMÉNIENNES D'ANI DE BAGNA1R ET DE MARMACHÈN". Revue de l'Orient Chrétien (1896-1946): 341–42, inscription 72. doi:10.31826/9781463220860-020. ISBN 978-1-4632-2086-0.
  18. ^ Graffin, René, ed. (1922–23). "LES INSCRIPTIONS ARMÉNIENNES D'ANI DE BAGNA1R ET DE MARMACHÈN". Revue de l'Orient Chrétien (1896-1946): 335–336, inscription 68. doi:10.31826/9781463220860-020. ISBN 978-1-4632-2086-0.
  19. ^ An Il-Khanid Sahib Divan, "the highest ranking officials in the hierarchical system of the II-khanid state", responsible for finance.
    Eastmond, Antony (1 January 2014). "Inscriptions and Authority in Ani". Der Doppeladler. Byznanz und die Seldschuken in Anatolien vom späten 11. Bis zum 13. Jahrhundert, eds. Neslihan Austay-Effenberger, Falko Daim: 81. We are faced with the opposite situation from the Abul Mā'maran inscription, in that this inscription is designed to appeal to the non-Armenian population, but is placed in a relatively private location inside the gavit, and also uses Armenian as its language. Although it does not have an official Ilkhanid seal, it was still issued by a powerful and well-connected figure, Khuandze, wife of the atabeg Shahanshah II, and daughter of the Ilkhanid Sahib Divan.
    Margarian, Hayrapet (2006). "Ṣāḥib-dīvān Šams ad-dīn Muḥammad Juvainī and Armenia". Iran & the Caucasus. 10 (2): 167–180. doi:10.1163/157338406780346032. ISSN 1609-8498. JSTOR 4030920.
  20. ^ a b Graffin, René, ed. (1922–23). "LES INSCRIPTIONS ARMÉNIENNES D'ANI DE BAGNA1R ET DE MARMACHÈN". Revue de l'Orient Chrétien (1896-1946): 356–357, inscription 75. doi:10.31826/9781463220860-020. ISBN 978-1-4632-2086-0.
  21. ^ a b Graffin, René, ed. (1922–23). "LES INSCRIPTIONS ARMÉNIENNES D'ANI DE BAGNA1R ET DE MARMACHÈN". Revue de l'Orient Chrétien (1896-1946): 320–322, inscription 49. doi:10.31826/9781463220860-020. ISBN 978-1-4632-2086-0.
  22. ^ Graffin, René, ed. (1922–23). "LES INSCRIPTIONS ARMÉNIENNES D'ANI DE BAGNA1R ET DE MARMACHÈN". Revue de l'Orient Chrétien (1896-1946): 333, inscription 66. doi:10.31826/9781463220860-020. ISBN 978-1-4632-2086-0.
  23. ^ Graffin, René, ed. (1922–23). "LES INSCRIPTIONS ARMÉNIENNES D'ANI DE BAGNA1R ET DE MARMACHÈN". Revue de l'Orient Chrétien (1896-1946): 362–363, inscription 81. doi:10.31826/9781463220860-020. ISBN 978-1-4632-2086-0.
  24. ^ Graffin, René, ed. (1922–23). "LES INSCRIPTIONS ARMÉNIENNES D'ANI DE BAGNA1R ET DE MARMACHÈN". Revue de l'Orient Chrétien (1896-1946): 367–370, inscription 87. doi:10.31826/9781463220860-020. ISBN 978-1-4632-2086-0.
  25. ^ Graffin, René, ed. (1922–23). "LES INSCRIPTIONS ARMÉNIENNES D'ANI DE BAGNA1R ET DE MARMACHÈN". Revue de l'Orient Chrétien (1896-1946): 158–160, inscription 93. doi:10.31826/9781463220860-020. ISBN 978-1-4632-2086-0.
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