St. Mesrop Church of Tyak

Location

The church is located in Tyak village of Hadrut region. Tyak, which has the status of a state reserve since 2017, is one of the settlements where the folk architecture of the 18th-19th centuries has been preserved.

Historical overview

 The church was built in the 19th century (Barkhutaryants 1895, 66). The historical cemetery of the village is located in the vicinity.

Architectural-compositional description

The monument is a single-nave basilica, built of local rough light brown and gray stones, the frames of the windows, the portal and the cornerstones are made of hewn limestone. The entrance lintel opening to the southern wall is decorated with a knobby arcade typical of the Artsakh churches of the 18th-19th centuries. There are also two windows placed in this wall.

The roof used to be originally tiled. It was replaced with slate during the Soviet years.

The condition before, during and after the war

Before the war the church was completely standing. It was completely restored during 2019-2020 (Fig. 2). No information is known about the monument either during or after the war.

Fig. 1 The external view of the church from the west before the restoration, photo from the certificate of the RA MESCS.

Fig. 2 The general view of the church from the northwest after restoration, photo by Gayane Budaghyan.

Bibliographic examination

The monument is a relatively new structure. 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. Mesrop Church of Tyak
St. Mesrop Church of Tyak
St. Mesrop Church of Tyak
Artsakh