The “Mamkan” Church in the village of Tsmakahogh

The “Mamkan” Church in the village of Tsmakahogh

Location

The monument is situated 200 meters north of the village of Tsmakahogh, in the Martakert region of the Republic of Artsakh. Since September 2023, it has been under Azerbaijani occupation.

Historical overview

Precise information about the monument remains unknown—the fifth issue of the Corpus of Armenian Lithography and the works of Sh. Mkrtchyan and V. Balayan provide only fragmentary details.

Thus, in the fifth volume of the Corpus of Armenian , while describing the village of Vachar and its environs, the inscriptions of three khachkars located near a church popularly known as "Mamkaekhtsi” are also mentioned (CAE 5, 83).

In Sh. Mkrtchyan's work, it is noted that in the village of Tsmakahogh, there is a single-nave basilica church referred to as "Manka," and its floor plan is provided (Mkrtchyan 1989, 24; Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 The ground plan of the "Mamkan" Church, according to S. Karapetyan, is a photo from Sh. Mkrtchyan's book.

In his study, V. Balayan-without citing any written source or offering further explanation-claims that in 1260-1261, a church known as Mamka was built on the slope of Artsatasar to commemorate Princess Mamkan (Balayan 2020, 300).

A description of the floor plan of the "Mamkan" church is included in the certificate issued by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Artsakh (Monument Certificate of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Artsakh).

The monument, which, in addition to the church, also includes a small cemetery, occupies an area of 0.4 hectares. The church is a rectangular hall measuring 7.1×3.1×3.5 meters. Its roof has collapsed, and the exterior facing stones have been removed. The entrance is from the west, and there is a single window on the east side. Several khachkars dated to the 12th–13th centuries (Figs. 2-5) are found inside the church and beneath the external window on the east wall. A former cemetery once extended to the southwest of the monument; at present, only one khachkar and one tombstone remain (Certificate of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Artsakh).

Fig. 2 The general view of the "Mamkan" Church from the south, photo by G. Sargsyan.

Fig. 3 The "Mamkan" Church from the west, photo by G. Sargsyan.

Fig. 5 The "Mamkan" Church from the east, photo by G. Sargsyan.

The condition before, during, and after the war

The monument remained undamaged during the war. There is currently no information regarding its present condition.

Bibliography

  1. CAE 5 - Corpus of Armenian Lithography, Issue 5, Artsakh, compiled by S. Barkhudaryan, Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, Yerevan, 1982.
  2. Mkrtchyan 1989 - Mkrtchyan, Sh. Historical and Architectural Monuments of Nagorno-Karabakh, Yerevan, 1989.
  3. Balayan 2020 - Balayan, V. An Outline of the History of the Settlements of the Republic of Artsakh, Yerevan, 2020.
  4. Certificate of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport of the Republic of Artsakh.
The “Mamkan” Church in the village of Tsmakahogh
The "Mamkan" Church in the village of Tsmakahogh
The "Mamkan" Church in the village of Tsmakahogh
Artsakh