Since last summer the interior of Echmiadzin has been renovated, repainted or revarnished.
Yesterday we took Viken to Echmiadzin. Viken is Nigol's friend from Toronto. More than seeing places he wanted to stay in Yerevan, drink Kotayk and watch Yerevantzis: the chic aghchigner, police collecting tax from drivers, the kids playing in streets. But a couple of times we dragged him out.
Arrived Echmiadzin and the first person we met was Abo, Albert of Echmiadzin, he is an amazing artist, a varbed in abstract painting. An architect, Samuel, was with him.
Abo was watching the congregation. Together we watched the constant flow, locals leaving the church by walking backwards, and visitors turning around and walking out.
Many visitors, Hi and odar, have been disappointed in Echmiadzin. We have heard so much about it that we expect to find a huge cathedral and we do not. It has its charms though. One of them is the main entrance, the detailed work, columns with animal figures on it. The other is the murals on the interior walls and domes, so colorful and so unique for an Armenian Church.
Asked Samuel about the animals, and he explained them by the influence of Iranian architecture, one of the shahs wanted to demolish Echmiadzin and the monks engraved his figure on the cathedral by night and convinced him otherwise. Suddenly the busy, colorful, wall murals make sense.
I try to understand Echmiadzin, The Holy Sea of all Armenians. I've descended to the heathen altar located under the Christian altar. It is said that the entry to the fire temple was well hidden, covered and closed, access denied by the power of Sourp Grigor Lusavorich's seal. Throughout history we've learnt that the heathen churches were destroyed, but the twentieth century uncovered the fire altars under the Christian churches. There's another one under Sissian's Sourp Grigor church, discovered and reburied three or four decades ago. Why would Grigor bury the fire temples and not destroy them? It is like Vartavar, Water worship ritual and celebration of St Mary coming together. It is like engravings of the Armenian khatchkars, the sun (heathen faith) and the Cross above it (symbolizing victory of Christianity).
Perhaps it is the understanding that different elements, layers of history, engravings come together to make one faith, one culture. Always changing always the same. Ours.
Yesterday we took Viken to Echmiadzin. Viken is Nigol's friend from Toronto. More than seeing places he wanted to stay in Yerevan, drink Kotayk and watch Yerevantzis: the chic aghchigner, police collecting tax from drivers, the kids playing in streets. But a couple of times we dragged him out.
Arrived Echmiadzin and the first person we met was Abo, Albert of Echmiadzin, he is an amazing artist, a varbed in abstract painting. An architect, Samuel, was with him.
Abo was watching the congregation. Together we watched the constant flow, locals leaving the church by walking backwards, and visitors turning around and walking out.
Many visitors, Hi and odar, have been disappointed in Echmiadzin. We have heard so much about it that we expect to find a huge cathedral and we do not. It has its charms though. One of them is the main entrance, the detailed work, columns with animal figures on it. The other is the murals on the interior walls and domes, so colorful and so unique for an Armenian Church.
Asked Samuel about the animals, and he explained them by the influence of Iranian architecture, one of the shahs wanted to demolish Echmiadzin and the monks engraved his figure on the cathedral by night and convinced him otherwise. Suddenly the busy, colorful, wall murals make sense.
I try to understand Echmiadzin, The Holy Sea of all Armenians. I've descended to the heathen altar located under the Christian altar. It is said that the entry to the fire temple was well hidden, covered and closed, access denied by the power of Sourp Grigor Lusavorich's seal. Throughout history we've learnt that the heathen churches were destroyed, but the twentieth century uncovered the fire altars under the Christian churches. There's another one under Sissian's Sourp Grigor church, discovered and reburied three or four decades ago. Why would Grigor bury the fire temples and not destroy them? It is like Vartavar, Water worship ritual and celebration of St Mary coming together. It is like engravings of the Armenian khatchkars, the sun (heathen faith) and the Cross above it (symbolizing victory of Christianity).
Perhaps it is the understanding that different elements, layers of history, engravings come together to make one faith, one culture. Always changing always the same. Ours.
posted by Nigol at 10:34 PM
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