The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Armenia in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries with Special Reference to Georgia, Anatolia and Constantinople

• Main Author: Celik, H. A.
• Published: University of East Anglia 1975
• Subjects: 720
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.450985

This study, which includes a portfolio containing over two hundred illustrations, traces the development of Armenian ecclesiastical architecture during the 10th and 11th centuries. Plans, construction, materials and principles of design are discussed and the changes these brought to aesthetic and decorative expression are analysed. An attempt is made to ascertain the general characteristics of the monuments and to determine the features in which they differ from those of earlier times. It is emphasized that the period should be divided into two parts because whilst there is no clear division between the architecture of the 7th and that of the late 9th and early lOth centuries, from about the mid-lOth century considerable changes are introduced and the monuments become quite distinct and original. It is shown that these innovations are not confined merely to architectural decoration, as has been clai~ed, but that many new forms are created whilst, at the same time, a number of fine interpretations of earlier designs are produced. The fundamental differences which exist between the architecture of the mid-10th and 11th and that of earlier centuries are underlined through the detailed discussion of a large number of monuments. The role and significance of the semi-ecclesiastical buildings known as gavits (jamaduns)which are attached to many of the churches is examined, The thesis contains translations of numerous inscriptions found on the monuments which relate to their erection, patronage, etc., and through these the dates, previously considered doubtful, of many edifices have been established. In the second part of the study the relationship between Annenian architecture and that of Georgia, Constantinople and Anatolia is investigated. An extensive bibliography is included at the end.