Shoghakat
Encyclopedia
The Church of Shoghakat was erected in 1694 by Prince Aghamal Sorotetsi during the time of Catholicos Nahabed I
in the present day city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), in the Armavir Province of Armenia
. This church together with other nearby sites is a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
.
wrote that the young and beautiful Hripsime who at the time was a Christian nun in Rome
, was to be forcefully married to the Roman
emperor Diocletian
. She and the abbess Gayane among other nuns fled the tyrant emperor and left to Armenia. The pagan Armenian King Trdat received a letter from Diocletian in which he described her beauty. Trdat discovered where the nuns were hiding, and fell in love with Hripsime and later Gayane. After their refusal of his advances, Hripsime and Gayane were tortured and martyred separately at the locations of the churches of their names. The remaining thirty-eight nuns were martyred at the location of Shoghakat. The name of the church refers to the ray of light that appeared during the martyrdom of the nuns. During the time that Hripsime was being tortured, Gayane had told her to "be of good cheer, and stand firm" in her faith. King Trdat was to be later converted to Christianity and made it the official religion of the kingdom.
. At the southern wall is a small semi-circular apse
believed to have served as a southern portico
. The bases of the wall piers have features that are characteristic to 4th-5th century Armenian churches. Two portals that led into the chapel were located as well, one to the south and one to the west.
basilica
with a semi-circular eastern apse flanked on either side by narrow chapels. Some portions of the apse wall could possibly date to the 5th c. Four pendentive
s help make the transition from the square central bay
to the octagonal drum
and conical
dome above. As in some of the other medieval Armenian churches, the drum and dome are situated off-center and to the west. The main portal into the church leads into the interior from an open gallery adjacent to the western wall of the structure. A lengthy inscription is on the exterior lintel
above the door, and is offset by the orangish color of the tufa
used. Another smaller portal is at the southern wall. Very little ornamentation adorns the main body of the church except for a geometric pattern that is around the mid-portion of the exterior of the drum, some khachkars built into the upper walls, and a geometric cross design at the exterior of the eastern wall with rosettes and two small cross shaped windows that let some light into the apse of the church.
At the western end of the structure is a vaulted open gallery constructed simultaneously with the church. A single large arched opening centered in the middle of the front façade leads into the gallery, where directly across from it is the main portal to the church. Open arched windows are located to either side of the arch on the western wall as well as the walls north and south. The frames surrounding the windows and the large arched entry are highly ornamented with geometric patterns, rosettes, and khachkar
s. Centered above the gallery is a cupola
supported by six-columns that serves as the church's belfry
. Foliage patterns adorn each of the six upper exterior of corners of the cupola.
Nahabed I of Armenia
Catholicos Nahabed I of Edessa was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1691 and 1705.He was a virtuous man of meek disposition. He made many improvements to Etchmiadzin during his reign and attempted to reunite his countrymen...
in the present day city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), in the Armavir Province of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
. This church together with other nearby sites is a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
History
The church sits on the holy site where a group of unnamed nuns following Gayane and Hripsime were martyred during the time of the conversion of Armenia to Christianity in the year 301 AD. The fifth century Armenian historian AgathangelosAgathangelos
Agathangelos , appropriately so named, was a supposed secretary of Tiridates III, King of Armenia, under whose name there has come down a life of the first apostle of Armenia, Gregory the Illuminator, who died about 332. It purports to exhibit the deeds and discourses of Gregory, and has reached us...
wrote that the young and beautiful Hripsime who at the time was a Christian nun in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, was to be forcefully married to the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
emperor Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
. She and the abbess Gayane among other nuns fled the tyrant emperor and left to Armenia. The pagan Armenian King Trdat received a letter from Diocletian in which he described her beauty. Trdat discovered where the nuns were hiding, and fell in love with Hripsime and later Gayane. After their refusal of his advances, Hripsime and Gayane were tortured and martyred separately at the locations of the churches of their names. The remaining thirty-eight nuns were martyred at the location of Shoghakat. The name of the church refers to the ray of light that appeared during the martyrdom of the nuns. During the time that Hripsime was being tortured, Gayane had told her to "be of good cheer, and stand firm" in her faith. King Trdat was to be later converted to Christianity and made it the official religion of the kingdom.
Earlier structures
At the site of the present day church of Shoghakat, there stood an earlier church of the 6th-7th century which unfortunately has not survived. It is believed that the structure standing at the site today possibly rests on the foundations of the earlier church (other sources say that Shoghakat may have been built upon the foundations of a 13th century church). At the southwest end of the building, excavations uncovered the remains of a single-chamber church constructed on a stepped platform, thought to have been a 4th century memorial chapelChapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
. At the southern wall is a small semi-circular apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
believed to have served as a southern portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
. The bases of the wall piers have features that are characteristic to 4th-5th century Armenian churches. Two portals that led into the chapel were located as well, one to the south and one to the west.
Shoghakat Church
Shoghakat is a domed single-naveNave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
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...
with a semi-circular eastern apse flanked on either side by narrow chapels. Some portions of the apse wall could possibly date to the 5th c. Four pendentive
Pendentive
A pendentive is a constructive device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points at the bottom and spread at the top to establish the continuous circular or...
s help make the transition from the square central bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
to the octagonal drum
Tholobate
A tholobate or drum, in architecture, is the upright part of a building on which a dome is raised. It is generally in the shape of a cylinder or a polygonal prism....
and conical
Cone (geometry)
A cone is an n-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a base to a point called the apex or vertex. Formally, it is the solid figure formed by the locus of all straight line segments that join the apex to the base...
dome above. As in some of the other medieval Armenian churches, the drum and dome are situated off-center and to the west. The main portal into the church leads into the interior from an open gallery adjacent to the western wall of the structure. A lengthy inscription is on the exterior lintel
Lintel (architecture)
A lintel can be a load-bearing building component, a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. It is often found over portals, doors, and windows.-Structural uses:...
above the door, and is offset by the orangish color of the tufa
Tufa
Tufa is a variety of limestone, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from ambient temperature water bodies. Geothermally heated hot-springs sometimes produce similar carbonate deposits known as travertine...
used. Another smaller portal is at the southern wall. Very little ornamentation adorns the main body of the church except for a geometric pattern that is around the mid-portion of the exterior of the drum, some khachkars built into the upper walls, and a geometric cross design at the exterior of the eastern wall with rosettes and two small cross shaped windows that let some light into the apse of the church.
At the western end of the structure is a vaulted open gallery constructed simultaneously with the church. A single large arched opening centered in the middle of the front façade leads into the gallery, where directly across from it is the main portal to the church. Open arched windows are located to either side of the arch on the western wall as well as the walls north and south. The frames surrounding the windows and the large arched entry are highly ornamented with geometric patterns, rosettes, and khachkar
Khachkar
A khachkar or khatchkar is a carved, cross-bearing, memorial stele covered with rosettes and other botanical motifs. Khachkars are characteristic of Medieval Christian Armenian art found in Armenia.-Description:...
s. Centered above the gallery is a cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
supported by six-columns that serves as the church's belfry
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
. Foliage patterns adorn each of the six upper exterior of corners of the cupola.
See also
- Etchmiadzin, ArmeniaEjmiatsin, ArmeniaVagharshapat , commonly known as Ejmiatsin in Eastern Armenian and Echmiadzin in Western Armenian , is the fourth-largest city in Armenia and the spiritual centre of the Armenians, as it is the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the head of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church...
- Etchmiadzin Cathedral
- Saint Gayane Church
- Saint Hripsimé Church
- Zvartnots CathedralZvartnots CathedralZvartnots Cathedral are the ruins of a seventh century centrally-planned aisled tetraconch type Armenian cathedral built by order of the Catholicos Nerses the Builder from 641-653...