Surb Nshan Church, Yeghegis: A 13th-Century Armenian Church
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Armenia
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Armenian
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
History
Surb Nshan Church is a 13th-century church in Yeghegis, Armenia, built in the Armenian architectural style. It belongs to the Vayots Dzor Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, an Oriental Orthodox church and the historic national church of the Armenian people, but is no longer active. The church is also called Saint Karapet; Karapet, meaning “Forerunner,” is an Armenian epithet for John the Baptist. It was restored in 1964.
Remains
The standing church is a stone building with a dome and a four-sided plan. Its complex includes an entrance hall and a cemetery. The entrance is on the west side. Projections at the western ends of the walls are flanked by half-columns with cylindrical shafts, bases, and capitals. Similar half-columns border the semicircular sanctuary at the east end, and arches joining the columns support the dome. Hour-marking letters from a sundial appear on the exterior south wall.
A carved facade stone from Prince Tarsayich’s palace stands 30 meters from the church. Tarsayich was a medieval Armenian prince of the Orbelian dynasty. At the stone’s center are carved images of him and his wife, Mina Khatun.
