Church > The Church of Tandzatap

The Church of Tandzatap

Location

The church (Figs. 1, 2) is located on a hill on the northern side of Tandzatap village (Gharababa) in Kashatagh region of the Artsakh Republic, 21 km north of Kovsakan (Zangelan), 2 km from the current border of the Republic of Armenia.

Fig. 1 The view of the church of Tandzatap from the south-west, photo by S. Karapetyan.

Fig. 2 The view of the church of Tandzatap from the south-east, photo by S. Karapetyan.

Historical օverview

There is very little information about the church of Tandzatap. Based on architectural-compositional solutions and historical realities, the church is dated to the second half of the 19th century.

Architectural-compositional examination

The church is a single-nave hall with a rectangular plan, an inwardly accentuated arciform altar on the eastern side and a pair of vestries. The semi-cylindrical vault rests on arches consisting of a pair of pilasters, the roof is gable, the external dimensions are 14.50x8.30 meters (Karapetyan 2001, 193, Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 The plan of the church of Tandzatap, S. Karapetyan, Armenian cultural monuments in the region of Karabakh, p. 193.

It is built of local raw stone and lime mortar. The polished stones were used in the corner parts of the structure, in the vaulted arches and pilasters, in the parts of the entrance door and windows, which were later demolished mainly for reuse. It is plastered inwardly. The only entrance, which is now completely destroyed, is from the south. The church has seven windows, three of which open in the parts of the main altar and the verstries (eastern wall) (Fig. 4) – two in the southern, one in the western walls. There are niches in the altar and on the northern wall of the prayer hall. An image of a cross is placed on the southern wall, to the left of the entrance (Fig. 5). A contemporary cemetery used to be spread around the structure, which was destroyed in 1989-1993 (Karapetyan 2001, 192-193).

Fig. 4 The view of the church of Tandzatap from the north-east, photo by S. Karapetyan.

Fig. 5 The cross relief placed on the southern wall of the church of Tandzatap, photo by S. Karapetyan.

Bibliographic examination

Researcher S. Karapetyan, in his book “Armenian cultural monuments in the region of Karabakh, introducing the village and the church, refers to the inscribed gravestone preserved from the ruined cemetery around the church, which he dates to 1882 (Karapetyan 2001, 192).

The condition before, during and after the war

The church of Tandzatap did not undergo significant changes before and after the war (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6 The view of the church of Tandzatap from the south, 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. Karapetyan S., Armenian cultural monuments in the region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001.
The Church of Tandzatap
The Church of Tandzatap
The Church of Tandzatap
Artsakh