Baghanis Church: A Tenth-Century Armenian Apostolic Church
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Armenia
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Armenian
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page5 sections
History
Baghanis Church is a tenth-century Armenian Apostolic church in Baghanis, Armenia, dedicated to the Holy Mother of God. The Armenian Apostolic Church is Armenia’s historic Christian church and belongs to the Oriental Orthodox tradition. Baghanis Church is affiliated with the Tavush Diocese, an administrative district overseen by a bishop.
Remains
Plan and structure
The church stands on a high slope at the northern edge of Baghanis, within a medieval cemetery. Its small, single-nave hall has a rectangular exterior and measures 8.75 by 4.7 metres. The building had a vaulted ceiling, an arched ceiling, and a gabled roof, with two sloping sides meeting at a ridge. Its strongly horseshoe-shaped apse, the sanctuary recess at the end of a church, is flanked by windows with rectangular openings. Two intermediate pilasters and pilasters at the western corners are shallow supports attached to a wall. Integrated with the north wall, they supported the arches that carried the vault.
Masonry
The walls are built mainly from large, dressed blocks of yellowish felsite, a fine-grained volcanic rock. Stones in the lower courses, the horizontal layers of masonry, measure 60 to 65 centimetres high. A greenish tint distinguishes the stones in the final three courses. The surviving masonry is noted for its carefully worked stone and even coursing, as well as the exceptional strength of its lime-mortar core.
Surviving walls
The church is now in ruins. Its apse and the full length of the north wall survive up to the level of the vaulting, along with the beginnings of the adjoining south and west walls.
