Church > St. Astvatsatsin Church of Hakaku

St. Astvatsatsin Church of Hakaku

Location

The church is located in Hakaku village of Hadrut region of the Artsakh Republic. During the Soviet era, the village was part of Hadrut region of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. As a result of the 2020 war, Hakaku village, as well as the entire Hadrut region, are occupied by Azerbaijan.

Architectural-compositional description

St. Astvatsatsin Church is located in the center of the village (Fig. 1). It is a three-nave basilica with a volumetric-spatial composition, with a rectangular plan of 13.40X9.60 meters (Fig. 2).

 

Fig. 1 The general view of the church, photo by the Database of the Department of Preservation of Monuments of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Artsakh Republic.

It ends in the east with a semicircular altar and rectangular vestries adjacent to it. The hall under the vaulted and gable roof is divided into naves by means of a pair of arches, which rest on two free and two pairs of pillars adjacent to the wall (Figs. 3, 4).

Fig. 4 The gable roof of the church, photo by the Database of the Department of Preservation of Monuments of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Artsakh Republic.

Fig. 5 The eastern facade of the church, photo by the Database of the Department of Preservation of Monuments of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Artsakh Republic.

Fig. 2 The plan of the church, Mkrtchyan Sh., Historical and architectural monuments of Nagorno Karabakh, p. 120.

Fig. 3 The interior of the church, photo by the Database of the Department of Preservation of Monuments of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Artsakh Republic.

The walls are lined with small and rough stones and lime mortar, the arches, door and window openings are made of hewn stones (Fig. 5). The only entrance to the church is in the south (Fig. 6). According to the building inscription, the church was built in 1621 (Mkrtchyan 1985, 119-120).

The condition before and after the war

The church was not damaged during the Artsakh wars. There is no information about the fate of the church after the occupation of Hadrut region.

Fig. 6 The main entrance of the church, photo by the Database of the Department of Preservation of Monuments of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Artsakh Republic.

Bibliography

  1. Mkrtchyan Sh., Historical and architectural monuments of Nagorno Karabakh, Yerevan, 1985.
St. Astvatsatsin Church of Hakaku
St. Astvatsatsin Church of Hakaku
Hakaku
Artsakh