History of Armenia and Its Architecture

A History of Armenia and its Architecture A Study of a Nation’s Unity through its Language, Religion and Architecture Jacob Gulezian | Adviser: Mark Brack Drexel University Architecture Independant Study Spring 2016

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Independent Study:

History of Armenia and its Architecture

By Jacob Gulezian with guidance from Professor Mark Brack Spring 2016

Through the years, decades and centuries we can track the evolution of various peoples and countries; land is fought over, borders are adjusted, governments, kingdoms, and empires rise and fall. Sometimes these changes bring with them distortions in culture, religion or language; without fail, a country’s past will always inform its future and be carried on by generations of people. Somewhat uniquely, Armenia’s long and fraught history is littered with an almost constant frenzy of activity for over 2000 years. For many of those years, conlict came to Armenia, as it often found itself and its lands being fought over by neighboring powers. However, unlike other places that have had tumultuous histories where changes in rulers brought with them changes in religion, architectural style or language, Armenia, or Armenians speci ically, have been able to maintain a remarkably robust and consistent cultural identity through architectural style as well as, religion and language, despite being located at the heart of the constantly volatile region where ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ societies converge.

This paper will examine the history of the Armenian nation through its architecture and how it, the Armenian language, and their faith helped the country remain uni ied through the centuries.

The irst Armenians were actually Urartians, it wasn’t until the collapse of the kingdom of Urartu around the end of the 7th century B.C. that we see the irst mention of an Armenian people by the Greeks, who “called the new ethnopolitical entity that succeeded the Urartians the armenioi.”1 The Armenian people were then subjugated to a rotating cast of foreign and domestic rule beginning with Darius I, king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, followed by Macedonian rule under Alexander the Great. During this time there was an Armenian governor and the state had considerable autonomy. The Armenian territory was then split into Greater Armenia and Armenia Minor around 200 B.C. and became a vassal state to the Greek Seleucid Empire after the collapse of Alexander’s empire. In 188 B.C. Greater Armenia declared its independence from the Seleucids, marking the beginning of the Artaxiad dynasty under king Artaxias I. Under Artaxias, Armenia underwent a period of consolidation - it was during his reign that Armenian became the common language. Artashes uni ied his people around the new capital he built, Artashat. One hundred years after Artaxias established the Artaxiad dynasty, Armenia was ruled by Tigranes the Great. During his forty year reign from 95 to 55 B.C. Tigranes greatly expanded Fg. 1: Land acquired by Artaxias and Tigran, as well as Vassal lands; greatest extent of the Armenian borders to reach as far as western Persia, Armenian Empire. 188 B.C. - 66 B.C. including all of Mesopotamia to Ctesiphon and Seleucia WikiCommons: Maps of the Armenian Empire of Tigranes 1 Zekiyan, The Armenians: 2000 Years of Art and Architecture. 48

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and the western coasts of Syria to Phoenicia. Under military pressure from Rome, Tigran allied Armenia with Rome. In 66, Tiridates I was crowned by Nero in Rome, beginning the Arsacid dynasty. The dynasty would last almost four hundred years until 428, when it was terminated by the rise of the Sassanids. But it was during this era, under the rule of Trdat IV, that Armenia of icially converted to Christianity around the year 300 under the guidance and leadership of St. Grigor Lusavorich (Gregory the Illuminator), the irst supreme patriarch of the Armenian Church, making it the irst nation to of icially accept Christianity as a state religion. Lusavorich was “of the Armenian nobility of Parthian origin and educated at a Greek Christian school in Cappadocia,” it is believed that his organization skills, wealth and political connections allowed him to surpass the Edessa-based branch of Christianity that was developing in southern Armenia.2 The story of the conversion is that St. Gregory healed Trdat the Great from (some say near-fatal) mental illness with a miracle, but it is likely that politics played a role as well. In terms of foreign policy; the conversion was considered a direct threat by the Sasanians. In support for Trdat in joint opposition to the Sasanians, Diocletian, the Roman Emperor (284-305) consented to Christianity in Armenia. Domestically, the adoption of Christianity, as Payaslian explains, “provided the philosophical or ideological foundations for the centralization and strengthening of the monarchy, placing the king, as the only deputy of a single God, at the apex of the sociopolitical hierarchy. Trdat the Great and his supporters utilized the transition from polytheistic to monotheistic religious order to achieve greater political and economic power and centralization.”3 With the death of the Sasanian leader Shapur II, resolution was possible between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassanids. This came at the peril of Armenia which was partitioned between them in 387 AD, by the Treaty of Ekeghiats.4 What aided in keeping the Armenian people together at this time was the invention of the Armenian alphabet in 405 by vardapet Mesrop Mashtots.5 This unique character set could be used as letters or numerals and was suited speci ically to the linguistic requirements of the Armenian people.6 The alphabet has been slightly modi ied, but is still in use today. This combination of religious and cultural coherence helped the country stay together through years of war and bloodshed between the Persian and Byzantine empires. Every Armenian today knows Mesrop Mashtots since the largest avenue in Yerevan bears his name and leads you directly to the Matenadaran, an institute and museum of ancient manuscripts dedicated to him.

In 642 an Arab invasion cut short an incredible architectural period that saw the completion of the Church of Zuart’noc’, the Church of Mren and the Church of the St. Hrip’simé. Though quite different Zuart’noc’ and Hrip’imé are good examples of trends in Armenian architecture and were the templates for many churches built since.

2 Payaslian, Simon. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present. 35 3 Payaslian, Simon. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present. 36 4 Payaslian, Simon. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present. 39 5 Zekiyan, The Armenians: 2000 Years of Art and Architecture. 51 6 T.S.R. Boase, The Cilician Kingdom of Armenia.1

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The Church of Zuart’noc’ is arguably the most famous of the medieval churches in Armenia. Zuart’noc’ was part of the residential complex of Katholikos Nersēs III, “the Builder.” It was constructed from 641 to 661, while war was raging between the Byzantine and Persian empires.7 The church was dedicated to the Heavenly Host. The church is categorized as a aisled tetraconch, Greek for four shells, which are then surrounded by a circular deambulatory. The Fg. 2: Plan of Zuart’noc. form is believed to have been derived from 5th century Rohttp://www.armenica.org/collection/church/Zvartnots-Etchmiadzin/zvartnots-cat-p-has.gif mano-Byzantine monuments in Milan and Athens.8 However, “the largest group of aisled tetraconchs dates about 450 to 550 and is found in Syria and Mesopotamia.”9 Taking a closer look at the single aisled tetraconch shape of Zuart’noc’, Christina Maranci advances a slightly more nuanced theory about the church’s historical precedents: “that the designers of Zuart’noc’ borrowed only the lower elevation or even just the ground plan of their prototype, reproduced it in the form of a graphic representation, and then modi ied it in order to support a different superstructure.”10 The basis of this theory is on the likelihood that only the lower parts of the 5th and 6th century prototypes would have survived to the 7th century and that the tetraconch plan would have been easily represented in plan which aligns with the tradition of conceptualizing monuments in two dimensions.11 Architectural historians are still unsure how exactly Zuart’noc’ was completed, but the two main theories agree that it was likely a tall, three-stepped rotunda form, topped by a domed drum. “The main point of contention is whether the second level was circular or quatrefoil on the outside.”12 The circular scheme (seen at right) is a reconstruction by T’oros T’oramanyan, whose work studying and surveying Armenian architecture in the early 1900s is the seminal foundational publications that introduced the world to ancient Armenian architecture. T’oramanyan performed “extensive ield work, measurements, plans and photographs” as well as written observations and theories that “considered the origins and development of Armenian architecture and its Fg. 3-4: Visualisations of Zuart’noc; relations with the architectural traditions of Western Europe, above quatrefoil, below circular. virtualANI.org Byzantium, and the Islamic world.”13 7 Maranci, Christina. Vigilant Powers: Three Churches of Early Medieval Armenia. 114 8 Novello, Adriano Alpago, and A. Manoukian. Armenian Architecture: IVth-XVIIIth Centuries. 16 9 Maranci, Christina. Vigilant Powers: Three Churches of Early Medieval Armenia. 126 10 Maranci, Christina. Vigilant Powers: Three Churches of Early Medieval Armenia. 133 11 Maranci, Christina. Vigilant Powers: Three Churches of Early Medieval Armenia. 133 12 VirtualANI 13 Maranci, Christina. Medieval Armenian Architecture: Constructions of Race and Nation. 43

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Studying Zuart’noc’, T’oramanyan postulates a connection to Roman architecture citing S. Stefano Rotundo and the Pantheon as potential predecessors to the “polygonal and round style” which he concluded was foreign to Armenia. However, T’oramanyan did attribute some aspects of Zuart’noc’ to more local style, especially when considering the decoration and column capitals. The primary example is an column capital with a carved eagle, which he associated with Armenian tradition. He declared that “it is pointless to look for this style in other lands; they are certainly forms of Armenian origin.”14 However, this view now appears to be a little shortsighted as much of the patterning and lat imagery decorating Zuart’noc’ is reminiscent of Byzantine motifs, thus making it unlikely that these designs were developed in the vacuum that T’oramanyan might suggest. One theory from Károly Gink and Gambo however, posit that Zuart’noc’ was instead intentioned as a way for “Nerses III [who] was philhellene in his sympathies... to strengthen Byzantine in luence in Armenia. This is indicated by the inscription in Greek in the church.”15 Additionally, “the decoration reveals Syrian as well as North Mesopotamian sources: basket capitals surmounted by Ionic volutes, recalling Mayafarquin; eagle capitals; vine-scroll friezes; classical pro iles” could all have Fg. 5: The approach to Zuart’noc’ with Mount Ararat in the distance.

Photo by Jacob Gulezian been derived from Mesopotamia.16 Furthermore, at Zuart’noc’ we see early architectural acknowledgement of the Armenian landscapes, speci ically Mount Ararat. Zuart’noc’ is located only ten kilometer southeast of the holy city of Vałaršapat, on the road where king Trdat had met Saint Gregory. This siting likely won him favor among the Armenian clergy, yet, again Maranci provides another theory towards the church’s siting. She writes that “the site lies almost directly north of Mount Ararat… Looking south from the monument - or through it, as is now possible, one sees an almost perfectly centered image of the mountain… the snow-capped summit, with its slightly higher northern peak, seems to rise directly from the building itself, forming a geological roof above the stylobate and exedra columns.”17 This is but one example of an important characteristic of Armenian architecture; the link between built form, religion and landscape.

Sadly, the church would not stand the test of time and was “already in ruins by the tenth century. Whether this was due to faulty construction, an earthquake or devastation by the Arabs is still an open question…” It is possible that “alien conquerors forced… Armenian captives to tear down the capitals of the columns, using hammers and chisels. The marks of violent blows on the capitals can indeed still be seen.”18 Another key characteristic is the materiality and monumentality of the Armenian churches and their quality of construction. Utudjian writes: 14 Maranci, Christina. Medieval Armenian Architecture: Constructions of Race and Nation. 65 15 Gombos, Károly, and Károly Gink. Armenia: Landscape and Architecture. 32 16 Krautheimer, Richard. "Armenia and Georgia." Early Christian & Byzantine Architecture. 340 17 Maranci, Christina. Vigilant Powers: Three Churches of Early Medieval Armenia. 124 18 Gombos, Károly, and Károly Gink. Armenia: Landscape and Architecture. 32

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“Stereotomy, the art of using freestone with perfectly itting joints, was carried to its highest degree of perfection in Armenia. Even though the Armenians were the inventors of numerous architectural elements: for example the conical dome, the Armenian rib-vaults, the triangular niches to hollow out the masonry, their main claim to glory is to have translated into stone all the types of construction, vaulted or not, which had been realized by older civilizations in brick, baked or simply dried in the sun. The perfection of the freestone work, the ingenious solutions brought to the most complex problems, the care in inishing, the rigorous and simple geometry of the buildings, have their only equivalent in Greece and Egypt, the two great building civilizations. These two however, did not tackle the problem of roof-covering by vaults or domes, except in exceptional circumstances, whereas they were common practice in Armenia...”19

Indeed, the ine craftsmanship on display is inspiring, and remarkably transcends time with a consistency of precision rarely seen. One of the best examples of the ine stereotomy is at the Church of Saint Hrip’simé in the city of Vagharshapat, the church “which more than any other has been called speci ically Armenian.”20 St. Hrip’simé was built in 618 by Katholikos Komitas21 to honor the female martyr by the same name. The church is considered revolutionary for being the irst known Armenian example of a domed and apsed structure, other than the church of Avan, which was built around the same time.22 Similar to many Armenian churches, Hrip’simé is domed, Fg. 6: St. Hrip’simé.

Photo by Jacob Gulezian with an axial symmetry in a rectangular plan with one pair of slightly longer sides. What makes it unique is the complex relationship between the plan layout of interior spaces which can be linked to “concepts from Parthia and Syria” to the exterior massing composed of “intricate many-sided volumes.”23 Of particular complexity is the niched exterior articulated in the elevation, and the manner in which the four lat facades transition into the plinth upon which the Fg. 7: Plan of St. Hrip’simé. drum rests. Krautheimer describes the complex and varied http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/iaa_architecture/images/ hripsime_ loorplan_large.jpg interior space and austere exterior as follows: “An octagonal centre bay is surmounted by a dome. From this core radiate, on the main axes, four cross arms, terminated by apses. In the diagonals appear four steep and narrow cylindrical corner niches. The interior, then forms a kind of cross-octagon, and the corner niches may well have been designed to abut the diagonal thrusts of the dome. Four sacristies, square or round, are placed behind the niches 19 Utudjian, Edouard. Armenian Architecture: 4th to 17th Century. 27 20 Krautheimer, Richard. "Armenia and Georgia." Early Christian & Byzantine Architecture. 341 21 Novello, Adriano Alpago, and A. Manoukian. Armenian Architecture: IVth-XVIIIth Centuries.15 22 Maranci, Christina. Medieval Armenian Architecture: Constructions of Race and Nation.100 23 MacDonald, William L. Early Christian & Byzantine Architecture. 44

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and ill the spaces between the arms. All this; octagon, cross arms, corner niches, and sacristies - is enclosed within a massive masonry cube, alleviated only by steep triangular slits on the exterior between apses and sacristies.”24

Theses triangular slits are a common feature among Armenian churches, and Armenian architecture in general, as they are believed to be an early solution to the earthquakes that often hit the country and are blamed for the early demise of Zuart’noc’. These, along with the ine, mortar-less construction helped keep Hrip’simé standing for nearly 1400 years. Additionally, the joinery between the triangular pediments and upper cupola display a high degree of skill and mastery of stone; “carefully itted ashlar masonry of the casing walls which enclose rubble concrete illings, de ines a crystalline sharpness of form not found to the west or south.”25 The porch-campanile was added in the 17th century, but other than that very little has been altered in this, one of Armenia’s oldest, largest and best preserved ancient churches.

By then end of the 9th century, after years of rebelling against Arab rule, Armenia regained much of its own independence, despite being divided into a number of different kingdoms. One of the most powerful was the Artzruni dynasty, who were based around Lake Van and built the almost entirely intact Church of the Cross perched upon Aght’amar Island in Lake Van, Fg. 8: Church of the Cross at Aght’amar. present-day Turkey. “The church dedicated to the Holy https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/0d/5d/ b6/0d5db6ff9735b4234d111dd9fd40b37e.jpg Cross was built between 915 and 921 by the architect Manuel as a palatine chapel for King Gagik I Artsruni.” Similar to Zuart’noc, Aght’amar has a tetraconch plan “with cylindrical niches at the corners two of which lead to chapels lanking the eastern apse.”26 Stylistically, this church resembles St Hrip’simé in Vagharshapat, fully displaying characteristics of an Armenian style with “forms [that] are tall rather than broad, built of lat surfaces bounding crisp tent shapes and gables. Vertical surfaces [that] are often deeply grooved by tall, narrow niches… at the Church of the Cross at Aght’amar of the early 9th century of the exterior is decorated by projecting bands and groups of relief celebrating Armenian life and history as well as Old and New Testament scenes. Little if anything of the curving interior surfaces, fashioned by an almost High Gothic mastery of the stereometry of stone cutting, is conveyed to the exterior shapes.”27 The remarkable condition of the church and its interior frescoes and reliefs depicting scenes from the New and Old Testaments, the cycle of Genesis and the life of Christ, saints and evangelists has brought the church to international prominence among architectural historians and tourists.

Another important area architecturally during the Bagratid empire was their capital city Ani, built from 952 to 977. The Bagratid kingdom would enjoy almost 200 hundred years of peace, prosperity and growth until Ani, its jewel city of one “thousand and one churches,” 24 Krautheimer, Richard. "Armenia and Georgia." Early Christian & Byzantine Architecture. 341 25 MacDonald, William L. Early Christian & Byzantine Architecture. 44 26 Novello, Adriano Alpago, and A. Manoukian. Armenian Architecture: IVth-XVIIIth Centuries 40 27 MacDonald, William L. Early Christian & Byzantine Architecture. 44

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fell at the hands of Byzantine expansion in 1045. During this period of Bagratid rule many incredible churches and fortresses were built including the Cathedral of Ani and the church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Sadly, the city of Ani was not preserved as Aght’amar was. Today, only relics remain of a handful of churches, all located across the Arpacay river in present-day Turkey, inaccessible to Armenians. The city was believed to be last occupied in the mid 18th century by a small group of monks at the church of Kizkale before being completely abandoned under pressure from ravaging Kurdish tribes.28 The cathedral of Ani was built by Trdat from 989-1001 and is a domed basilica. It demonstrates a verticality building up to the dome with “pointed arches, ribs and vault; decorative exterior arcading… and a graceful crossing tower with a dome on drum and pendentives.”29 Conant explains this type of ribbed construction had been happening in Armenia since Hripsimé at Valarhapat in 618, but had not in luenced later Fg. 9: Cathedral of Ani. buildings in the East or West. “The Romanesque-lookhttp://virtualani.org/cathedral/cath1.jpg ing Armenian ribbed work of the tenth century is a passing phase; for the development continues into ingenious combinations of ribs arranged [like the # sign] with a turret at the summit, centrally placed. In fact, the Armenians were always interested in centralized rib schemes, and these have had only slight in luence in the West.”30 These churches shared a number of unifying characteristics; they are small in scale, but very large in presence. This is achieved by a visual “massiveness and sparseness of detail.” Interestingly, though the churches themselves were almost entirely devoid of carved decorations and ornamentation like so many other religious structures, the Armenians showed tremendous skills with carving and story-telling through imagery.

The only difference is that this art was segregated almost entirely to khachkars, or crossed-stones. These varied in dimension from roughly the size of a small tombstone to 6 or 7 feet tall. The stones were often rect- Fg. 10: Khachkars at Sevanavank at Lake Sevan.

Photo by Jacob Gulezian angular in shape with a gently curved top to represent a roof and thus protection. The carvings would cover one side and would often surround an intricately detailed cross. They were carved from large pieces of the native tufa stone, which was also the primary material used in Armenian architecture. It, along with the building conFg. 11: Tufa stone found in Yerevan.

Photo by Jacob Gulezian

28 Virtual ANI. 29 Conant, Kenneth John. "Exchange of Influences: The Problem of Armenia." Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture 800 to 1200. 341 30 Conant, Kenneth John. "Exchange of Influences: The Problem of Armenia." Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture 800 to 1200. 342

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struction method of “large, well-cut stone blocks facing a narrow core of rubble masonry”31 is very characteristic of Armenian architecture. The local Tufa stone can be mined in 7 different colors and 42 shades. It is a beautiful, earthy-colored palette of volcanic stone incredibly abundant in Armenia, and which is still being used for buildings today, creating a consistent, yet colorful palette for buildings in the present day capital city of Yerevan and Armenia, as a whole.

Rising from the ashes of a desperate people was a small new kingdom just southwest of historical Armenia where Armenians had formed small colonies trying to escape the destruction of their homeland. The new kingdom of Cilicia (1080-1375) was founded by Ruben, a likely relative of the last king of Ani, Gagik II. The Cilician period was characterised by 300 years of relative peace which afforded the Armenian people time to consolidate and develop their culture. This period was one of artistic and architectural achievements namely in fortresses. The two most well-preserved and studied castles from this period, which we will examine brie ly here are the Castle of Baghras and the Castle of Azgit. The Castles of Baghras and Azgit, like many Medieval Armenian structures, both now stand in eastern modern-day Turkey. The craftsmanship of these two structures is unlike that which we have seen applied to churches, smooth, inely inished Fg. 12: Castle of Baghras. and assembled. Rather, their construction is of a far roughhttp://www.bagras.sk/ iles/banery/P1015132_1381659281.jpg er aesthetic described “as ‘rough-trim’ and consisting of ‘stones.’”32 However, some examples of re inement are evident near openings for doors and arches, for example, which have a more ‘chisel-dressed’ masonry limestone and occasional itting for door hardware. In general most rooms have rough stone barrel vaulting. In his writing about the Castle of Baghras, A.W. Lawrence notes the amount of structural decay and change observed in 1951, after his initial visit in 1938; on multiple occasions he writes: “By 1951 half of the east wall had fallen.” “By 1951 the whole south wall and fallen.” “By 1951 the whole vault had fallen.” “mostly destroyed between 1938 and 1951.”33 The Castle became an outpost for 12th century crusaders and Templars, who inhabited it and enlarged it until their departure in 1187. The Castle of Azgit is similar in many ways to Baghras, both in a ruinous state. They both have small chapels, but unlike other sacred buildings we’ve seen, these are built with the same rough-cut masonry and are in a poor state.

In addition to the great architectural advances in fortresses, the Cilician period also catalyzed a blossoming of literature, both poetry and classical literature. Furthermore, it marks a signi icant shift in Armenia’s international stature as it put Armenians in contact with the Western world, this had a particular effect as it spurred the reorganization of the feudal system, which was now “linked with the conception of donations made by princes” 31 Krautheimer, Richard. "Armenia and Georgia." Early Christian & Byzantine Architecture. 342 32 A. W. Lawrence, The Cilician Kingdom of Armenia.49 33 A. W. Lawrence, The Cilician Kingdom of Armenia. 54

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rather than “based on a subdivision of land.”34 The kingdom of Cilicia would fall, this time to the Mamelukes of Egypt in 1375. This would mark the end of any of icial national political unity of the Armenian people until very brie ly in 1918, over 500 years later.

That half-millennium bore witness to the rise of the Ottoman empire centered in present day Turkey, and the Safavids in Iran. For 200 years they fought for control over Armenian land as well as Anatolia and the Caucasian regions. The Ottomans were victorious and annexed eastern Armenia in 1585. After a number of successful campaigns against the Ottomans in Armenia and Georgia, Persian King Shah Abbas I forced Armenians living in old Julfa and Erivan to migrate with his retreating troops and settle in his capital city of Isfahan, in present day Iran. There they founded the Armenian quarter, New Julfa, which became a bustling trade center and cultural hub into the 18th century with trade reaching India, Italy and England.35 Additionally, “the Armenians introduced the art of printing to Persia in the 17th century.” This shows the Armenian ties to the West since “the technique of casting and composing metal type must have been learned in Europe, probably in Amsterdam, where there was a colony of Armenian merchants, and where the irst Armenian Bible was printed in 1666.”36 There are only thirteen Armenian churches in New Julfa built between 1606 and 1728, but an estimated 27 to 30 existed at one point circa 1701. “The churches and houses in Julfa are evidence that the Armenian were undoubtedly gifted craftsmen.”37 However, the move from Old Julfa to New must have been jarring as they had to learn to build with mudbrick and stucco, in lieu of their traditional stone construction. The aid of Persian architects helps to explain why these churches do not resemble other Armenian churches other than the fact that “the churches are hardly decorated at all.”38 Instead, they rely on their form, which is decidedly Persian with onion-shaped domes and shallow, pointed arches. “Their interior decoration is often eclectic to an extreme; but this very quality... is a virtue, as it provides valuable evidence of the interaction of ideas and artistic concepts between East and West in the seventeenth century.”39 The decoration includes “gilded stucco ornament and tile friezFg. 13: Vank Cathedral, New Julfa. http://ajammc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/f_gholies, both incorporating Armenian inscriptions.”40 Depour20120818152141857.jpg spite working with new materials and new forms, the Armenians stayed true to their bare and austere exterior aesthetic and their ancient history on the interior: “the ground plans and main divisions of the churches, which are dictated by the liturgical requirements of the services and derive from the traditional stone-built churches of Armenia”41 remains. To this day, New Julfa remains “one of the oldest and largest Armenian quarters in the world.”42 34 Zekyian, The Armenians: 2000 Years of Art and Architecture 35 Zekyian, The Armenians: 2000 Years of Art and Architecture 36 Carswell, Ronald J. New Julfa: The Armenian Churches and Other Buildings. 10 37 Carswell, Ronald J. New Julfa: The Armenian Churches and Other Buildings.11 38 Carswell, Ronald J. New Julfa: The Armenian Churches and Other Buildings. 11 39 Carswell, Ronald J. New Julfa: The Armenian Churches and Other Buildings. v 40 Carswell, Ronald J. New Julfa: The Armenian Churches and Other Buildings. 11 41 Carswell, Ronald J. New Julfa: The Armenian Churches and Other Buildings. 19 42 Wikipedia, New Julfa

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The early 19th century saw the emergence of a new power in the region from the north: Russia. With the conclusion of the Russian-Persian war with the treaty of Adrianople in 1828, Armenia was yet again divided: Eastern Armenia was annexed to Russia while Western Armenia fell under Ottoman rule. This didn’t prevent Armenian culture from lourishing, especially in cities with large Armenian populations at the time, including Ti lis and Istanbul, so much so that the following period (from 1840-1880) is sometimes considered the “Reawakening.” During this time we see the expansion of the Armenian language press and of Armenian schools. The modern Armenian dialect began to take shape as well, exhibited in literature and spoken by a newly educated class. This was brought about with a secularization of education in schools. Social change was also afoot as a declining Ottoman noble class was replaced by burgeoning professional, artistic and merchant classes. Most importantly the Reawakening saw the foundation of a new, western-educated class of intellectuals, who had studied at London, Paris and St. Petersburg.43 “They were heavily in luenced by the European Enlightenment, various French and Russian revolutionary thoughts, and like their Russian counterparts, they were engaged in the struggles for self-de inition and modernization as a nation and as individuals.”44 New parties of Armenian nationalists formed, most prominently the Hay Heghapokkakan Dashnaktsutiun (Armenian Revolutionary Federation, ARF) in 1890 in Ti lis. They opposed the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, as did the Young Turks party.

This was not a ‘bourgeois’ nationalism, rather “a radical nationalism of the intelligentsia.”45 These new efforts towards liberal reform and independence were not exclusive to Armenian nationalists, they were shared by Turkish and Arab nationalist movements emerging throughout the Ottoman empire. Feeling threatened, Sultan Abdul Hamid II armed and organized Kurdish Hamidiyé troops who attacked and massacred an estimated 100,000-300,000 Armenians from 1894 to 1896.

Sultan Abdul Hamid II began to lose political legitimacy and control over the Ottoman Empire and in 1909 was forced to abdicate the throne by the rising ‘Young Turk’ political party. “The Young Turk government promised political and economic liberalization, a representative government based on free elections, freedom of religion, and equality among the millets (separate Ottoman legal court pertaining to "personal law" under which a community or minority was allowed to rule itself under its own system. The word Millet comes from the Arabic word millah and literally means "nation")46. A democratically oriented leadership in Constantinople, Armenians, hoped, could take necessary measures to ameliorate the conditions in the empire in general and in the Armenian provinces in particular. Armenians and foreign observers expected conditions to improve.”47 But political and military crises with neighboring nations (Austria, Bulgaria, Crete and Italy) and internal counter-revolutionary forces challenged the new government, causing Turkey to lose most of its European territories and threatened to dissolve the empire. These losses and instability led to ultranationalist 43 Zekyian, The Armenians: 2000 Years of Art and Architecture. 62- 62 44 Payaslian, Simon. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present. 118 45 Payaslian, Simon. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present. 120 46 Wikipedia, Millet 47 Payaslian, Simon. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present. 123-4

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pan-Turkism and militarism within the Turkish government. The young government was eager to align itself with Germany, to aid in modernizing its military and stabilizing itself, which would lead directly to the darkest chapter of Armenian history.

The strengthening Turkish-German alliance and mounting tensions in Europe caused the Russian government to redirect some of its attention to the “Armenian Question,” a diplomatic shorthand for the involvement of European and Russian governments with the Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire, established after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78.

It is primarily concerned with the protection and the freedoms of Armenians, and recent activity in Constantinople brought attention back to the matter. As World War I broke out in Europe, the Young Turk government adopted a wartime policy aimed at the entire Armenian population. “The war provided the Young Turk government with the opportunity to augment the scope of its Turki ication scheme from mere cultural conversion to the physical elimination of its Armenian subjects.”48 Fear that Armenians had “become instruments of foreign subversion conspiring against the Ottoman government” and would join Russian forces, made them into targets for deportations and massacres. The ‘ inal resolution of the Armenian Question’ by the Young Turk government was brought to international attention on April 24th, 1915 with the execution of Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople. Unknown to much of the world, conscription and executions of Armenian men aged 15-62 had already been occurring for 2 years. Women and children were deported to the Syrian desert Der-elZor; most were killed en route from exhaustion and starvation. It is estimated that more than 1.5 million Armenians died before the Allied victory in October 1918 and the repealing of the Temporary Law of Deportations in November.

Sadly, the conclusion of War in Europe in 1918 did not mean peace in the Caucasus region. Border disputes continued between Armenia and its neighbors on all sides, including Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. In 1920 the Treaty of Sèvres was drafted to include a clause that Armenia would be recognized as a free and independent state and that United States President Woodrow Wilson would draw the country’s de inite borders. The treaty was signed by the Ottoman Government, but not by Sultan Mehmed VI. The Turkish National Movement opposed any land concessions to Armenia, thus dragging the two nations into war in 1920. The Turkish-Armenian War was not long, but it dealt a tremendous blow to the Armenian nation. Facing pressure from Turkey from the west and advancing Bolshevik troops from the northeast, Armenia was forced to sign the Treaty of Alexandropol (modern day Gyumri) which called for the “young Armenian republic to disarm most of its military forces, cede more than 50% of its pre-war territory, and to give up all the territories granted to it at the Treaty of Sèvres.”49 Crippled, Armenian leadership decided to join the Soviet Union in exchange for protection of its territories against Turkish troops.

Merely months later, the Moscow treaty was rati ied at the conference at Kars in 1921 which established the borders between Armenia and Turkey and brought peace between the Bolsheviks and Turkey. Though Armenia was represented at Kars, since the treaty had al48 Payaslian, Simon. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present. 126 49 History of Armenia

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ready been drafted it was in lexible to Armenian requests. “On the subject of borders, Ganetzky (spokesman for the Caucasian states) accepted those laid down in the Moscow treaty, with two small revisions: the irst was the ruins of Ani, situated on the west bank of the Arpa Chai, the actual border between Turkey and Soviet Armenia… But Karabekir’s response (representative from Turkey) was that of an in lexible bureaucrat. He referred to the treaty of Moscow, pointing out that since these changes were new to it, they lay outside the scope of the conference”50 “It was like a return to the cynical old days of the tsars and sultans, when imperial rulers dispensed the fortunes of their vassals according to their own whims and interests.”51 Thus, without its ancient jewel-like capital city of Ani and its spiritual and cultural anchor Mount Ararat, Armenia became a republic of the Soviet Union, less than half the size of its historical might, under the leadership of Alexander Miasnikyan.

One of the irst tasks of the new republic was the reconstruction after the war. Architect Alexander Tamanian was chosen to head-up this gargantuan task. Tamanian was born in 1878, to a wealthy Armenian family living in the Russian Empire. He graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1904 and moved to Yerevan in 1923. By 1924 he had begun drawing up the master plan for the reconstruction of the capital city of Yerevan, making it “the irst among the cities in the Soviet Union for which a general plan was developed.”52 At the time, Yerevan was a city of about 65,000 inhabitants, so Tamanian initially designed the city for 150,000 people, but the population quickly grew to over a million by 1979, which quali ied it for an underground subway system. Beyond city planning, Tamanian would also play a role in the master planning of a number of other Armenian cities, and would design many public and civic buildings for them including a hydroelectric station in 1926 and Re-

Fg. 14: Plan of Yerevan now. Growth of a Garden City designed by Alexander Tamanian in 1924 http://www.bezdikian.com/immagini_progetti/2013/204-Intercontinental-Yerevan/Yerevan_urban_plan.jpg

50 Walker, Christopher J. Armenia, Survival of a Nation. 329 51 Walker, Christopher J. Armenia, Survival of a Nation. 325 52 Wikipedia, Yerevan

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public Square, formerly Lenin Square. In designing the masterplan for Yerevan, Tamanian drew inspiration from “Tomasso Campanella’s vision of a City of the Sun (a text read by Lenin), evident in a ring enclosing the city centre; it also drew on Ebenezer Howard’s “Garden City” ideal, in the green areas adjacent to the ring. The centre is a grid with a main square surrounded by government buildings.”53 The grid was a symbol of equality, but was also the embodiment of urbanization-meets-nature. The western in luences on Tamanian’s design again proves that Armenia is not segregated from the western world and is a testament to the globalisation of architecture and theory that would dominate the 20th century.

Tamanian’s most notable built project is the Armenian Opera Theater in Yerevan which opened in 1933.

It is well known for its superior acoustical qualities. “The Opera Theater functions as the primary performance hall in the city, containing the Aram Khatchaturian concert hall, the National Theatre of Opera and the Alexander Spendiarian ballet.”54 The building itself is a neoclassical Fg. 15: Armenian Opera Theater. tour-de-force, alluding to greek architecture through its Photo by Jacob Gulezian proportioning and amphitheater-like design. Though Tamanian’s life was cut short - he died in 1936 - only three years after the Opera’s opening, he was able to produce a considerable body of work and attain a very high status in Armenian life, even earning himself a spot on the 500 Armenian Dram bill.

Tamanian wasn’t the only architect practicing in Armenia in the 20th century, other notable architects include Jim Torosyan, Spartak Kentehtsyan, Stepan Kurktchyan and Arthur Tarkhanyan. Tarkhanyan, along with Sashur Kalashyan and artist Hovhannes Khachatryan were the designers for the tremendously powerful Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, completed in November 1967. It is here, that thousands of Armenians gather every year on April 24th to commemorate the victims of Armenian Genocide. Fittingly to the subject and Armenian style, the memorial is austere and simple, yet geometrically complex and incredibly powerful. The pyramid form represents the Nation of Armenia, which has been divided many times in history, Major and Minor, East and West. Present-day Armenia is the smaller Fg. 16-17: Armenian Genocide Memorial. of the two halves; it serves as a reminder of all that has Photos by Jacob Gulezian

53 Miles, Malcolm. "Ideological Regeneration: The Cafesjian Centre for the Arts and the new Yerevan." Consuming Architecture: On the Occupation, Appropriation and Interpretation of Buildings. 163 15 54 Rizor, John. "AD Classics: Armenian Opera Theater”

been taken or lost. The twelve massive inclined and tapered slabs represent the twelve lost Armenian provinces, now in Turkey. At the center is a 1.5 meter deep pit containing an eternal lame to commemorate the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed during the Genocide.

Along the approach is a 100 meter long wall to invoke forced death marches, inscribed are the names of towns and villages where massacres and deportations of Armenians are known to have taken place.

After nearly 70 years a Soviet republic, Armenia declared independence from Soviet control in 1991. Among other things, this opened up new opportunities for wealthy diasporans in Europe and the United States to return to the country and shape it. The most prominent case of this is the Cafesjian Center for the Arts which is sited at the Cascades, a processional series of steps and escalators running due north, an extension of Northern Avenue, beyond the National Opera and past a larger-than-life abstract statue of Alexander Tamanian.

The Center was founded by the wealthy Armenian-American Gerard Cafesjian in 2005. “The place was originally conceived in Soviet times to be topped by a monument to the Soviet revolution. That it has been turned into a contemporary-art center by a rich American is a twist of history whose symbolism is lost on no one here.”55 In fact, though Tamanian conceived of the Cascades, he died before any construction had even begun. His idea was revived brie ly in the 1970s, led by Jim Torosyan, who was able to complete only the irst phase before the 1988 Spitak earthquake forced it to be abandoned again. Then, with the fall of the Soviet Union, the Cascades seemed unlikely to be realised due to insuf icient funds caused by the continuing con lict with Azerbaijan.

It wasn’t until 2005 and Mr. Cafesjian’s $35 million fund, that the completion of the Cascades and a modern art center became feasible. A team of engineers, architects and landscape engineers from New York were tasked with the project’s completion. At one of the highest points in the city, the pavilion would been seen from almost everywhere, Fg. 18: Tamanian statue at foot of the Cascades. while also providing it an unobstructed view of Photo by Jacob Gulezian Mount Ararat. Additionally, it would have obstructed the view of the existing Soviet monument, erected in celebration of 50 years as a Soviet Republic in 1976. Unfortunately, Mr. Cafesjian died in 2013, and funds for the nearly completed center dried up as his foundation board decided it wise to pull out of the operation. It appears like work stopped abruptly; at the top of the Cascades, a chain link fence diverts visitors around a huge hole in the Fg. 19: Stalled construction at the top of the Cascades.

Photo by Jacob Gulezian

55 Kimmelman, Michael. "Unveiling the Hanging Gardens of Armenia."

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ground. Concrete foundations have been cast, early evidence of stair towers and elevator shafts are visible. Rusted rebar juts out of columns at odd angles awaiting the next form and bucket of concrete. A crane still looms over the site, a frozen piece of equipment too expensive to relocate, and the monument still stands, looking out over Yerevan.

The globalisation of art, architecture and commerce has taken footholds elsewhere in the city as well. Along Northern Avenue, a bustling commercial corridor sometimes described as ‘LA with Mount Ararat’ because it is lined with “buildings [that] fuse traditional Armenian motifs with the steel and glass of global corporatism. Cladding on new apartment blocks mimics the dark pink of tufa buildings.”56 Recently completed, the Northern Ave. redevelopment was billed as a ful illment of Tamanian’s plan and the effort is genuine, but sadly, it is a little less successful urbanistically. It is here that a westerner might ind familiar brands like Cinnabon, Pizza Hut or KFC, further attesting to the globalisation of the city. Though life along the pedestrian street was lively, buildings were sometimes unoccupied at ground level and often empty on the upper loors. An additional white-marble-faced underground shopping concourse, running parallel and accessed by stairs or escalators protected by metro-esque steel and glass shelters seemed wholly unnecessary.

Yet, Yerevan as a whole comes across quite differently, it is humble and genuine. It is a city that is still growing, expanding outward and illing in gaps where Soviet-style architecture failed to live up to its lofty ambitions. Some parts feel run down and poor, while others could be mistaken for bustling European city streets lined with small cafes and shops. The city is colored by its buildings, the varying shades of pinks, browns, blacks and beiges of the tufa stone feel warm and comforting in the Fg. 20-22: Street life in Yerevan: dry sunlight. Water is everywhere, continuously water, chess, cafes and play. lowing drinking fountains dot the city, at almost Fg. 23: Overlooking Yerevan and Mt. Ararat from atop the Cascades every street corner and in groups of 6 or 8 at large Photos by Jacob Gulezian

56 Miles, Malcolm. "Ideological Regeneration: The Cafesjian Centre for the Arts and the new Yerevan." Consuming Architecture: On 17 the Occupation, Appropriation and Interpretation of Buildings. 165

public spaces. They are constantly active spaces where everyone stops to take a sip, splash a friend or just wet their face. Large fountains in Republic Square perform water routines to music late into the night. There, people of all ages come and gather to play, watch the show and each other. The place is alive with the laughs of children running around or on bicycles as the elders look on. Armenian culture is very open, communal and multi-generational. Play is allowed, chess is adored, music and laughter are the soundtrack for the city. The buildings shape the occupants, they are humble in their simplicity of life without frills, and consistent and optimistic in their outlook. The music is the same, unlike Arabic or Turkish music, traditional Armenian music has a cavernous simple beauty that ills the undecorated church interiors. But most importantly, Armenians admire the beauty that surrounds them, be it architecture, each other or the landscape. Armenians love their country, they adore Mount Ararat, inding comfort in its presence and gushing over its beauty (and the weather’s) on a clear day.

Armenians are a close, tight-knit people. This comes as no surprise; historically, they needed to be just to survive the nearly constant ighting, multiple ruling powers, divisions of land and genocide. Their religion, unique alphabet and language were key unifying elements that are still important today and distinguish the Armenians from their neighbors.

Similarly, their rich cultural heritage, illed with writers, musicians, artists and ilmmakers is brimming with a palpable creative energy. Nowhere else is this more evident and applied in a more consistent and restrained manner over the years than in their architecture. Armenian church design seems to transcend time as the adjectives used to describe the austere, quiet, undecorated, clean-faced facades of ancient structures like Hrip’simé and Aght’amar can be reapplied to almost every Armenian church built since. Rarely, would church style waiver such as in the case of Zuart’noc’ and often this type of experimentation would not exclude the building of the more commonly found smaller churches with domed crossings. Armenian architecture did not succumb to aesthetic fads, nor is it easily categorized into architectural phases, they are distinct and identi iable, but hard to date from appearance. The most recognizable Armenian churches share a number of similar features including the dome atop a drum, centered on the crossing, clad with an exterior cone, which is sometimes folded. Also common are triangular niches, used to dissipate earthquakes and to articulate the otherwise lat facades, of perfectly cut tufa stone. Windows are small, ornamentation is nearly non-existent - left almost entirely to khachkars - all of which is consistent with how Armenians interact with Christianity, and carries over into their character as people. The consistency, austerity and humility of the churches puts emphasis on a purity in faith that has no need for distracting idols.

Armenia is a country deeply rooted to its past, yet it is making large strides into its future. Yerevan is developing into a modern-day metropolis, shaking off the remnants of Soviet rule. The country is still recovering from its tremendous losses at the hands of the Turks during early 20th century and in later ighting for the Russians in World War II, but a new, invigorated generation is being developed, children are learning English in school (as well as 18

Russian and Armenian, of course), they’re playing chess and learning computer programs at novel free institutions like the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies. New world-class art museums are being built while symphonies, ballets and operas come from around the world to play at the National Theatre of Opera, designed by Tamanian. The Theater is not the only thing that has aged nicely; in fact, Tamanian’s masterplan for the city has held up remarkably well, the tree-lined streets and avenues with an encircling green-way is a refreshingly successful city plan. It’s axial nature make it easy to navigate and its scale and density are comfortable, with room for growth. Cohesion in the city is fostered through the materiality and aesthetics of the buildings that line its streets despite the Soviet-era buildings that still stand, at varying levels of decay, as a reminder of the not too distant past. The world has taken notice of Armenia and as diasporans return or global companies bring money and storefronts to the streets of Yerevan, Armenians will persevere through the modern-day empire that is globalisation, just as they’ve persevered in the past. As the country celebrates 25 years of independence, it is ready for the next chapter. Judging from their long history, they will know how to continue moving forward; with consistency and humility, staying true to everything it means to be Armenian.

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Maps_of_the_Armenian_Empire_of_Tigranes.gif http://www.armenica.org/collection/church/Zvartnots-Etchmiadzin/zvartnots-cat-p-has.gif https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/0d/5d/b6/0d5db6ff9735b4234d111dd9fd40b37e.jpg (2) http://www.archdaily.com/157639/ad-classics-armenian-opera-theater-alexander-tamanian http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/iaa_architecture/images/hripsime_ loorplan_large.jpg http://www.bezdikian.com/immagini_progetti/2013/204-Intercontinental-Yerevan/Yerevan_urban_plan.jpg http://www.bagras.sk/ iles/banery/P1015132_1381659281.jpg http://ajammc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/f_gholipour20120818152141857.jpg https://www.fresnostate.edu/artshum/armenianstudies/resources/churches/images/gallery/cathedral-of-mren/photo-02-hr.jpg http://virtualani.org/cathedral/cath1.jpg

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