Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IX. New plans for irrigation. Echmiadzin
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
216 ARMENIA AND THE NEAR EAST
roiind towers on the sides of the dome tower. The dome
itself has an inside diameter of 9-4 metres. Outwardly it
is sixteen-sided, with twelve windows. The inside height
under the dome is about 23 metres, which corresponds
pretty accurately to the exterior length of the building.
The walls of the church are entirely bare, without any
decoration inside or outside, except some carved arched
friezes over the windows and some simple ornamentation
inside the dome. But the whole of the inner hall, with the
four apses and the four high cylindrical corner-niches between
them, all terminating in supporting arches and semi-domes
under the central dome tower, presents an upward soaring
appearance which is extremely impressive. The light shines
down chiefly from the windows of the dome tower, for the
narrow windows in the outer walls of the three apses give
but little light. In the west apse, where the main entrance
is, there is no window. Hripsime’s tomb is in a vault
underneath the east apse.
According to Sebeos, who wrote at the end of the seventh
century, the church in its present form was built in 618 by
the Katholikos Komitas ; but wc know from Agathangelos,
writing in the fifth century, that there was a church on this
site at an earlier date ; wc are thus left in doubt as to how
much Komitas really built—whether he chiefly restored the
old church or erected an entirely new one. There are several
other churches of this type in different parts of Armenia and
Georgia.1 The proportions both of the interior and the
exterior of this church give an impression of balance and
harmony seldom equalled, and wc may safely infer that such
a mature form of construction was reached only after a long
period of evolution.
A young newly wedded couple from Erivan, accompanied
by an exceptionally handsome girl, went round the church
with us. It seemed that they were staying the Sunday with
the bishop. Very striking was the contrast between the
dignified old man with his flowing white beard and the
beautiful young girl radiant with vitality—symbolic of
the deep seriousness and of the joy of life.
Cf. Strzygowski, op. eit., vol. i, pp. 84 ff. and p. 93 f.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
