PLACES OF WORSHIP
ST. GEVORG CHURCH IN NORAGAVIT
XVII century
State index: 1.11.9.1
It is a functioning church on the 7th street of Noragavit district of Shengavit administrative district. The church is assumed to have been built on the site of the old church destroyed by the great earthquake of the Ararat Valley in 1679.
It is a three-nave basilica structure having a
rectangular plan, with two pairs of cross-cut pillar, vaulted and two-story sacristies,
a gabled roof. Externally, it has a three-tiered stylobate around the entire
perimeter. There are two entrances: from the west (from the vestibule) and from
the south. Enlightenment of the church is carried out by arched windows in the
upper part (three on each facade). Adjacent to the western façade of
the church is a three-arched open hall, constructed concurrently with the main
structure of the monument. Its central part is higher and ends with a pillared,
octagonal dome dominating in the complex. Such vestibule-belltowers are characteristic
of many monuments of the XVII century (such as Mughni, Shoghakat, Zoravor church
in Yerevan, etc.). Above the middle part of the prayer hall rises the
colonnaded, small rotunda of the belfry.
The decorative façade of the church is restrained. The west porch stands
out with its stalactite and ornamented carvings. There are donation
inscriptions on the walls, and embedded khachkars (Avetis’s khachkar of 1642,
Hovhannes’s, Vardan’s and Karapet’s khachkar of 1642, Avag’s khachkar of the XVII
century, etc.). Inside, the walls and columns are covered with frescoes
(XVIII-XIX centuries): “Saint Gevorg”, “Saint Minas”, “Saint Theodore”, “Angel”,
“Paradise Garden” and others.
The church is built from Yerevan’s apricot-colored
tuff. The cemetery with partially preserved khachkars expends around (XVII
century khachkars of the Geghetsik, Bishop Emanuel, Reverend Ovhanis, etc.). It
was renovated in 1855-1856.
1930s the interior walls of the church were plastered,
covering the frescoes of cultural value. Later, when the plaster layer was
scraped away, they were significantly damaged, several images were completely
erased.
It was completely renovated in 1981-1984 by Mother See
of Holy Etchmiadzin. A stone table was placed in the main hall (architect:
Artsrun Galikyan). The territory has been improved, fenced.
“Scientific Research Center of Historical and Cultural of Heritage” SNCO
Yerevan Municipality
