St. Astvatsatsin Church of Moshkhmhat

St. Astvatsatsin Church of Moshkhmhat

Location

The church is located in the center of the village, on the roadside (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 The exterior view of the church from the south-west, photo H. Petrosyan.

Historical overview

No evidence is known about the construction of the church. Speaking about the village of Moshkhmhat, M. Barkhudaryants only mentions the name of the church and notes that the priest used to come from the Ghevondiants hermitage (Barkhutaryants 1895, 85).

The architectural form of the church suggests that it was built in the 19th century.

Architectural-compositional description

The church is a single-nave basilica with a rectangular plan. The dimensions of the structure are 14.8 meters long and 8.5 meters wide (Fig. 2). It is built of local rough limestone, the corners of the walls, as well as the bordures of the door and windows, are hewn. The entrance is from the south. There is one window in the eastern and western walls and two windows in the southern wall. There are khachkars of the 11th-12th centuries embedded in the western and southern walls externally, as well as inwardly – under the bema (Figs. 3, 4). The sculptural relief at the bottom of one of the khachkars represents a mother and her son.

Figs. 3 The khachkars embedded under the church bema, photo from the certificate of the MESCS of the Republic of Artsakh.

Fig. 2 The exterior view of the church from the north-west, photo from the certificate of the MESCS of the Republic of Artsakh.

Figs. 4 The khachkars embedded under the church bema, photo from the certificate of the MESCS of the Republic of Artsakh.

The condition before, during and after the war

Before the war, the church was mostly standing. No information is known about the monument during or after the war.

Bibliographic examination

 Historical evidence about the church is scarce. Makar Barkhutaryants does not give any details about the construction of the church or its architecture in his work. Our description is mostly based on the information provided by the monument certificate which is compiled by the MESCS of the Republic of Artsakh.

Bibliography

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