bell-the-cat

It is good to hear you went ahead with the journey, Taronczy, and that it was successful. I have some observations concerning the descriptions with the photographs. I'm using google translate, so I may have got their translations slightly wrong. "Secondary School in Kars, where Yeghisheh Charents studied from 1908 to 1912". This is wrong - this building was just a government building during the Tzarist period. There are two Russian-period school buildings in Kars (I don't know which one Charents studied in), but this is not one of them. "Home of Charents" - I think this is a wish futhfillment that has no basis in reality. This derelict house is only Russian-period building that survives near the iron bridge. The idea that this house, the sole survivor, also happens to be Charent's house is not realistic. It is more likely to have been one of the dozens of houses that were demolished in the 1980s and 1999s. "Doors of the church" - they are not from the former Russian church. Do not believe anything you read in a Turkish museum! "House in Mush" - this is actually a church. "Cemetery under the trees" (Mush) - there is no cemetery at that exact spot. The gravestones that are lower down the slope are located on the actual graveyard. They did not slip down from further up the slope. That former church in Erzurum was a Greek church. It was not an Armenian church. "The entrance gate to the fortress. Обратите внимание на арки - на разницу в архитектуре первого и второго уровня. Pay attention to the arch - the difference in the architecture of the first and second level. Первый уровень остался без изменений, а вот второй, после "реставрации" принял вид "характерной" арочки. The first level is unchanged, but the second, after the "restoration" has kind of "characteristic" arcs. Чуть дальше на снимках церкви вы увидите каких успехов достигла реставрационная техника. A little further on the images of the church you will see the successes achieved by restoration technique." I hope I am reading this wrongly. However, if you are claiming that the pointed arch on the entrance is not original then you are wrong. If you are also actually claiming that the little mosque in the castle is actually a church then not only are you wrong, but you (or rather, your informant) have decended into insanity! "Madrasah double minaret, Right: The Church, which is converted into a mosque". It was always a mosque and was built as a mosque. "Building of the former Armenian school" (Erzurum) - I do not think this is correct, it is actually an Ottoman administrative building. The ruined structure that is sometimes identified as the Sanassarian School lies elsewhere in Erzurum.

As far as I know, there is no way to drive directly from Sasun to Mush by the route shown on the map.

I had heard that Mr Haghnazarian had been very ill earlier this year. I think we all should wish him a full recovery. He is one of the few people involved in Armenian organisations who has, for many years, done a huge amount of good work. And he has done it for entirely honourable reasons - without expecting rewards, and not for person gain, or for political or ideological reasons.

It is not true to suggest that the number of surviving monuments is not known. It is just that a complete figure has never been gathered together. A few years ago I suggested to Samvel Karapetian that the RAA should put together a list of all the monuments in Turkey they had records of, so that other researchers would know what places had been visited and recorded by RAA (to avoid duplicate work being done). Karapetian said it was impossible. He did not give a reason. I got the feeling that it was not because of logistical reasons that he refused - but because he did not want to give out the information to other people, to outsiders (and especially to non-Armenians) who will use the information to "trespass" on what he sees as his exclusive research. Maybe I am wrong in my opinion. However, I can see no reason why a complete list could not have been made quickly and easily.

My take on the St. Marinos / Srkhouvank monastery: http://www.virtualani.org/marinos/index.htm

A recent picture of the mountain.

Here is a scan of a photograph of those two khatchkars that were in the catalogue of the 'Museum of the Caucasus'. The good news is that they are not those which are at Etchmiadzin. So, if they still exist, then at least 6 Julfa khatchkars still survive. http://www.virtualani.org/julfa/museum_of_...asus_plate1.jpg

At the start of this month I talked briefly with an American photographer who had been hired by the Global Heritage Fund to make a photographic survey of Ani. He had just finished the task, and he had taken about 5000 photographs (over several weeks). He told me that he had asked the Global Heritage Fund whether he should take pictures of the 19th century and early 20th century Armenian and Russian inscriptions, and was then told not to photograph them.

How very sad. I should have gone there last year when its patena of age and beauty was still intact. It is all so horribly wrong. Why is restoration in Armenia aways undertaken in such a juvenile and backward way? Can't they get some conservation experts from Europe to assist them, or at least to tell them about the current best practices.

There are several in the Etchmiadzin museum and grounds. Does anyone know how many, exactly? Are there any in other museums in Armenia? The 'Museum of the Caucasus' in Tblisi had at least two in 1902. They are listed in their catalogue for 1902. What happened to them? RAA produced a book about the fate of the contents of this museum under Georgian control, saying how the Armenian objects were neglected or lost. Does someone here have a copy of that book and can tell me if the book says anything about those Julfa khatchkars?

Maybe the Lake Van churches would have some future if Karapetian would stop making political propaganda and start making contructive suggestions. St. Bartholomeos has been a military base for over 40 years. He is also talking nonsense when he says that the Aghtamar 'restoration' is of high quality. Maybe he is right that it is of higher quality than that found in Armenia - but that is only because the methods the Armenian Church has used over the last decade to 'restore' churches there have been so awful. A far more accurate interpretation of the Aghtamar 'restoration' can be found here: http://www.virtualani.org/aghtamar/2005restoration.htm BTW, the damage inflicted on the church is actually far worse than I have indicated in that article, which was written before I revisited the church in July.

Something about the inscriptions at Ani's St. Gregory church: http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=9664&st=0 However, because of the pathetic creature that owns Hyeforum, the subject was never able to be explored fully.

I was using translation software to read the text, and using its translation it seemed like you had doubts if the church was Armenian or not. You mean the St. Gregory Church of the Abughamrents? If so, then I already have photographs of all of the clearest and the longest ones. I took them a couple of years ago and I also took more this year (last month). One is a very evocative poem. There are lots of writings from the 1880s and 1890s as well, and there are some in Arabic letters. I agree - under any Turkish (or GHF) 'restoration' they will probably be destroyed. Sorry. I don't know of it. I've only visited the castle overlooking Gevash: its surviving walls, which face in the direction of Aghtamar, are probably mostly from Armenian times and are not Kurdish as some books suggest.

Dear Alex Just a note to say that I managed to finally reach the St. Merinos / Srkhouvank monastery last month. Took me 5 hours walking to find it (via a beautiful valley that extends southeastward from Edremit). Now that I know where it is I could probably walk there in 45 minutes from the Van-Gurpinar road (leaving the road at the fountain that is located half way down the road after it crosses the pass). I also visited the Gezkoy church near Erzurum yesterday. The condition of both sites are the same as last year. On your website you have some doubts if it is Armenian. The church is mentioned in a Turkish book published in 2001, and is described as an Armenian church. I took closeups pictures of all the 1917 graffitti inscriptions - they may have interesting content. Probably they were done by Armenian soldiers. Steve

Interesting. Can anyone post pictures of his design for the Ani museum?

Photographs and observations about the restoration of the Holy Cross church on Aghtamar Island http://www.virtualani.org/aghtamar/2005restoration.htm

Azerbaijan will never willingly allow it. And no international organisation seems to have the guts to insist on it (or cares enough about the destruction to insist on it). VISIT OF PACE MISSION TO STUDY CULTURAL LEGACY POSTPONED PanARMENIAN.Net 23.05.2006 17:21 GMT+04:00 The visit of head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Mission for Study of Cultural Legacy, British MP Edward O'Hara to the region, scheduled May 28, is postponed. The exact date of the visit is not determined yet. Nevertheless, the British MP will visit the region without fail, Trend reports. The goal of the visit of the PACE mission is to study the cultural heritage of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Yes it is me, I was happy to see your pictures of Merinos/Srkhouvank. What route did you take to reach it? I tried to walk to that monastery last year, starting by walking along the Semiramis canal and then climbing up into the mountains. However, I could not locate the site of the monastery and I was worried that it had been entirely destroyed! If only I had walked on just a little further - I must have been within 1/2 km of the monastery. Did you happen to also visit Angeghavank, it is a little to the south of the Semiramis canal, near the Lake Van end of the valley. Again I unfortunately could not find it - but I did find an unrecorded church in a nearby village and an old graveyard near the site of a completely destroyed monastery called Hndrakatarivank that is located about 5km west of Merinos vank.

Nice site. But, been there, seen that, done that! (Except for Lim, and the Marinos nunnery.) www.virtualani.org

Analysis of parts of that article: The writer of the article was obviously nowhere near the actual site of the cemetery. You cannot see the site of the cemetery from anywhere except inside the Arax gorge. The fact that he did not see the fake "military training ground" is proof of that. Gulistan village does not lie near to the cemetery site. Gulistan is the first stop on the railway after it emerges from the gorge. The village is named after a medieval turbe tomb that is located close by, near the river Arax. This is completely wrong. In 1993 (and probably until 1998) the cemetery was in the same condition that it was in during the 1970s. But we should all be aware of where they are going with this - the excuse will be that the cemetery was destroyed "in the heat of war" in the early 1990s so that it will dismissed as regretable but excusable behaviour by the Azeris. Again wrong. 80% of the khatchkars were still there until the end of 2005.

From the "Institute for War and Peace Reporting" website. It is a seriously flawed article on the Julfa graveyard. Azerbaijan: Famous Medieval Cemetery Vanishes - IWPR reporter confirms that there is nothing left of the celebrated stone crosses of Jugha.

Here it is in an Armenian version http://www.hetq.am/arm/society/0604-tapan.html And an English version http://www.hetq.am/eng/society/0604-tapan.html With photographs.

The Zaman article is here: http://www.zaman.com.tr/?hn=271045&bl=haberler&trh=20060330 There is no English version of it. Hamza Gündoğdu: http://www.atauni.edu.tr/enstitu/guzsan/gundogdu.htm He has been involved in the Isakpasha palace "restoration". An important question is "in what way?" If he was in any way responsible for the massive destruction that was inflicted on that monument in the late 1990s, then the fate of Ani is assured - it will be total destruction. Does anyone here read Turkish? Does this article give an indication of the amount of his involvement? http://tayproject.org/habereski1.html İSHAK PAŞA SARAYI 'PIRIL PIRIL' OLACAK Doğubeyazıt'ın 5 km. doğusunda, bir dağın yamacındaki tepe üzerine kurulan İshak Paşa Sarayı, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun Lale Devri'ndeki son büyük anıt yapısı olan Doğubeyazıt'taki İshak Paşa Sarayı'nın restorasyon çalışmaları, ödeneksizlikten verilen beş yıl aradan sonra yeniden başlıyor. Anıt eserin restorasyonuna, Türkiye Seyahat Acentaları Birliği'nin (TÜRSAB) sponsorluğunda haziran ayında başlanacak. Çalışmaya önce sarayın çökme belirtisi gösteren avlusundan başlanacağını, daha sonra diğer eksikliklerin tamamlanacağını belirten Kültür Varlıkları ve Müzeler Genel Müdür Yardımcısı Yalçın Kurt, sorunların en kısa sürede giderileceğini söyledi. 1990'lı yıllarda kazı ve onarım çalışmalarını yürüten Atatürk Üniversitesi Sanat Tarihi Bölümü Başkanı Prof. Dr. Hamza Gündoğdu, definecilerin saraya büyük zarar verdiğini belirtti. Gündoğdu, 1999'daki restorasyon çalışmalarıyla ilgili şu bilgileri verdi: "Sarayın çatısının bakır sac yapılması gerekiyordu. Ancak alttaki yapı bilinmediği ve hasar verebileceği düşüncesiyle 1999'da kaplama işleminde galvanizli sac kullanıldı. Kurşun ağır gelirdi. Bu yüzden yaptırılan normal sac, görüntü itibarıyla kötü olsa da eseri tahrip etmeyecek." Çıldıroğullarından 2. İshak Paşa ile Çolak Abdi Paşa tarafından 1685'te yaptırılan saraya son şekli 1784'te verildi. 18. yüzyıl Osmanlı mimarisinin en seçkin örneklerinden olan ve Selçuklu mimarisinin etkilerini de taşıyan yapı, 115x50 metre ölçülerinde bir alanın üzerinde kurulu. Radikal 09.05.2005

TURKEY INITIATES RECONSTRUCTION OF RUINS OF ARMENIAN CITY OF ANI ISTANBUL, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN - ARMENIANS TODAY. The Ministry of Tourism of Turkey initiated a program of reconstruction of ruins of the historic Armenian city of Ani. According to the Turkish "Zaman" daily's correspondent from Erzrum, excavations will last in Ani for 10 years, after what the reconstruction is envisaged. Professor Hamza Gundogdu, the Chief of the Art History Department of the "Ataturk" University was elected by the Ministry for implementation of the program. He will gather a staff to start works in Ani just this year. Lecturers and 35 students will be involved in works. This year the excavations will start from the so called Arslanl door of the Ani ruins and will get to the door of Kars. Work will be done near Manuchehri in 2007, and near the castles and city of Ani in 2008. In 2010 th inner part of the castle will be taken out, and in 2011-2015 work will be done for strengthening ruins and taking out the inner riches of the castle. Before excavation works, Gundogdu carried out necessary researches and assured that he will do an impartial work. The first excavations were carried out in Ani in 1892 by Nikoghayos Marr. The excavations were again re-started in 1917. Turkish Professor Kemal Balkan was engaged in that affair in 1964. His works lasted two years. Beyhan Karamaghal from the "Hajettepe" University implemented the same work in 1988-2005.

Your English is fine, to my eyes. And I hope my English translates well into Russian using babelfish. For point 2: I've visited Aghtamar almost yearly since the early 1980s, and the church was never in any danger of collapse. All that was needed was very minor consolidation work. Now, as a result of the "restoration" much of its historical value and visual appeal has been destroyed. For point 3: No Armenians have seriously tried - not a single one. For point 4: I spent 5 weeks in Armenia last summer and was shocked at some of the things I saw. For example, at Haritchavank, southeast of Gyumri, there is an old church from the 7th century. In the 19th century its roof was rebuilt with an unusual spherical domed shape. At some time in the last few years (I don't know exactly when - maybe someone here knows) this roof was destroyed for no good reason, and a completely inaccurate conical roof with stone slabs was built in its place. As I said, there was no reason to have destroyed the 19th century roof, which was an important part of Armenia's architectural heritage from the 19th century. And the new roof is completely inaccurate, since the original roof from the 7th century would have been egg-shaped on the outside and covered with clay tiles. As far as I could discover, all restoration works are either now controlled by the Armenian Church, which does whatever it wants, or by rich criminals, who do whatever they want. The Italian work that has been done at Marmashen is possible wrong - I have been told that they used polymer resin injected into the tufa stone. That type of stone absorbs water, and the resin expands when wet - so parts of the walls may eventually split apart as a result of their work.