Church > St. Astvatsatsin Church of Madatashen

St. Astvatsatsin Church of Madatashen

Location

The church is located in the centre of Madatashen village.

 

Historical overview

According to M. Barkhutaryants, it is a monument “newly built, of stones cemented with lime mortar” that was constructed at the end of the 19th century (Barkhutaryants 1895, 70).

Architectural-compositional description

It is a single-nave hall with a half-circular altar and adjacent vestries. It is built of local white limestone and lime mortar. The arch walls, windowsills and corners of the building are made of hewn limestone (Figs. 1-3). The dimensions of the monument are 16.7 meters long and 9.5 meters wide. The roof is collapsed (Fig. 4). The only entrance opens from the west, has 3 windows on the southern and eastern sides, and 1 window on the western side.

Fig. 1 The external view of the church from the northwest: photo from the Database of the RA MESCS.

Fig. 3 The external view of the church from the east: photo from the Database of the RA MESCS.

Fig. 2 The external view of the church from the west: photo from the Database of the RA MESCS.

Fig. 4 The view of the church from the inside: photo from the Database of the RA MESCS.

The condition before, during and after the war

Before the war, the church was completely standing, but during the Soviet years, as a result of the construction of a monument to the victims of the Patriotic War in the vicinity, the eastern and western walls of the church cracked and an emergency situation was created.

According to the satellite images of October 10, 2021, the enemy destroyed the school of Madatashen village in Askeran region and reached the wall of the church adjacent to the school, which is in fact in danger (see in detail https://monumentwatch.org/hy/alerts/%D5%A9%D5%B7%D5%B6%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%AB%D5%B6-%D5%A1%D5%BE%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%A5%D5%AC-%D5%A7-%D5%B4%D5%A1%D5%A4%D5%A1%D5%A9%D5%A1%D5%B7%D5%A5%D5%B6-%D5%A3%D5%B5%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B2%D5%AB-%D5%A4%D5%BA%D6%80/).

Bibliographic examination

The church is relatively newly built, which is why the primary sources are scarce. Our description is based on the information provided by Makar Barkhutaryants and the data on the monument certificate issued by the MESCS of the Artsakh Republic.

            Bibliography

  1. Barkhutaryants 1895 – Barkhutaryants M., Artsakh, Baku, Aror.
St. Astvatsatsin Church of Madatashen
St. Astvatsatsin Church of Madatashen
St. Astvatsatsin Church of Madatashen
Artsakh