Pemzashen Church
Encyclopedia
Pemzashen Church of the 7th century is located within the village of Pemzashen
in the Shirak Province of Armenia
just off of the main road through town. It sits adjacent to the foundations of a 5th century basilica
.
directly under where it stood is still intact. A side chapel is attached to the main church with a separate entry directly adjacent to the main portal to the church. Upon the lintel to the main entry to the church is a carving of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus
in her arms, and an angel
to either side descending to Mary with child holding a cloth in their arms. Mary is flanked by two other figures with gifts in their hands. The angel and figure to the right have been defaced almost completely except for the angel's cloth, and the faces of all of the remaining figures have been defaced as well except for the figure standing to the right. The rear façades of the church and chapel are partially in ruin, and at one time there had been other rooms attached to the front façade of the structure, as is evident from the remnants of collapsed walls.
Adjacent to the structure are the foundations of the 5th c. basilica mentioned previously.
Pemzashen
Pemzashen is a village in the Shirak Province of Armenia. During the Soviet era a sewing factory, construction materials plant, and a parts factory to supply hydro-electric stations were based out of Pemzashen. After the collapse of the USSR, most of the village's residents have found themselves...
in the Shirak Province of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
just off of the main road through town. It sits adjacent to the foundations of a 5th century basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
.
Architecture
The church at Pemzashen has a small cruciform central plan with a single intact drum above. Four small windows are located around the octagonal drum. The dome that once stood above the drum has since collapsed, but the geometric corniceCornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
directly under where it stood is still intact. A side chapel is attached to the main church with a separate entry directly adjacent to the main portal to the church. Upon the lintel to the main entry to the church is a carving of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
in her arms, and an angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
to either side descending to Mary with child holding a cloth in their arms. Mary is flanked by two other figures with gifts in their hands. The angel and figure to the right have been defaced almost completely except for the angel's cloth, and the faces of all of the remaining figures have been defaced as well except for the figure standing to the right. The rear façades of the church and chapel are partially in ruin, and at one time there had been other rooms attached to the front façade of the structure, as is evident from the remnants of collapsed walls.
Adjacent to the structure are the foundations of the 5th c. basilica mentioned previously.