The Mets Nahatak (Great Martyr) Church of Berdashen

The Mets Nahatak (Great Martyr) Church of Berdashen

Location

The Mets Nahatak Church is situated north of Berdashen village in the Martuni region, atop the mountain known as Mets Nahatak (Figs. 1, 2).

Since September 2023, the village has been occupied by Azerbaijan.

Fig. 1 The Nahatak mountain and the church from the west, photo by H. Petrosyan.

Fig. 2 The church from the northwest, photo by H. Petrosyan.

Historical overview

The stone with the building inscription of the church is embedded in the masonry of the western wall, above the entrance (Fig. 3). According to the inscription, it was built in 1676. The inscription reads: “I, Karakhan, originally from Gyzylkhal, built this church. My father Amirkhan, my mother Moras, and my brothers Sarukhan, Pakh, Babas, my wife Peri, and my son Sargis. It was in the summer of 1125” (CAE 1982, 158).

Fig. 3 The construction inscription of the church, photo by H. Petrosyan.

Architectural-compositional examination

The church is a single-nave vaulted hall with a horseshoe-shaped apse inside. It spans 12 meters in length and 7 meters in width. Constructed primarily from local white unprocessed slate, the main structure exhibits sturdy craftsmanship. The entrance is positioned on the western side, accompanied by a single small window in both the western and eastern sections (Fig. 4).

In the lower part of the lintel, there is a large sculpture of a cross, while a separate piece of stone in the upper part bears an inscription, serving as a synchronous construction inscription (Fig. 5). The inscription reads: "I, the son of Amirkhan, originally from Gyzylkhal, built the Nahatak temple in memory of my wife Peri. Amen" (CAE 1982, 158).

Fig. 4 The church from the east, photo by H. Petrosyan.

Fig. 5 The lintel's inscription, photo by H. Petrosyan.

In the masonry of the western facade, flanking the building inscription, khachkars and a tombstone adorned with sculptural images are incorporated (Fig. 6). Inside the church, several khachkars are mounted on the walls (Figs. 7, 8), one of which bears the inscription: "This cross Sandukht...", while another reads: "This cross Mamun" (CAE 1982, 159). Surrounding the church, there is a cemetery (Fig. 9).

Fig. 6 A tombstone encased on the western wall of the church, photo by H. Petrosyan.

Fig. 8 The donation khachkars inside the church, photo by H. Petrosyan.

Fig. 7 The donation khachkars inside the church, photo by H. Petrosyan.

Fig. 9 A tombstone from the cemetery around the church, photo by H. Petrosyan.

The condition before, during, and after the war

During the military operations of 2020 and 2023, the church remained unscathed, escaping damage. However, there is a lack of information regarding the current state of the monument.

Bibliography

  1. Barkhutareants 1895 - Barkhutareants M., Artsakh, Baku.
  2. CAE 5 - Corpus of Armenian Lithography, Issue 5, Artsakh/compiled by S. Barkhudaryan, Yerevan, Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the ASSR, 1982.
  3. Mkrtchyan 1980 - Mkrtchyan Sh., Historical and Architectural Monuments of Nagorno-Karabakh, Yerevan.
The Mets Nahatak (Great Martyr) Church of Berdashen
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