AGENCY FOR CONSERVATION
OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MONUMENTS
CHURCH OF ST. SION
(SEVENTH CENTURY)
THERE IS NO INSCRIPTIVE OR DOCUMENTARY INFORMATION AS TO WHEN THE CHURCH OF ST. SION, ALSO CALLED MANKANOTS, WAS BUILT. IT IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE SEVENTH–CENTURY ON THE BASIS OF ITS ARCHITECTURE. HOWEVER, IT HAS SOME NINTH –TENTH CENTURY FEATURES SUCH AS THE SCULPTURAL ORNAMENTATION ON THE WINDOWS AND THE SMALL, LOW ENTRANCE ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE PROJECTING SOUTHERN ARM OF THE CHURCH. THESE FEATURES HAVE LED SOME SCHOLARS TO CONSIDER IT A SEVENTH CENTURY CHURCH WHICH WAS RESTORED IN THE NINTH OR TENTH CENTURY WITH SOME ADDITIONS, OR AS A CONSTRUCTION OF THE NINTH OR TENTH CENTURY USING TRADITIONAL SEVENTH CENTURY FORMS.
MANKANOTS IS A SMALL, CRUCIFORM, CENTRAL–PLAN CHURCH WITH FOUR SEMICIRCULAR APSES FLANKING THE CENTRAL SQUARE WHICH WAS SURMOUNTED BY A DOME. THE TRANSITION FROM THE CENTRAL SQUARE TO THE OCTAGONAL DRUM OF THE DOME, RECENTLY RESTORED, IS MADE THROUGH THE USE OF SQUINCHES. MANKANOTS IS A FREESTANDING CRUCIFORM CHURCH ON THE EXTERIOR AS WELL, WITH EACH OF FOUR PROJECTING RECTANGULAR ARMS ENCLOSING A SEMICIRCULAR APSE. ALL THE ARMS ARE EQUAL IN SIZE.
THE CHURCH IS ERECTED ON A STEPPED PLATFORM WITH SEVERAL STEPS VISIBLE AT THE WEST END IN CONTRAST TO THE SINGLE LEVEL ON EACH OF THE OTHER THREE SIDES. THE WEST PORTAL IS FRAMED BY A WIDE ARCH SUPPORTED BY LARGE ENGAGED COLUMNS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE DOORWAY. THE SMALL PORTAL ON THE SOUTH IS VERY NARROW AND LOW. IN 1950, THE FACING STONES OF ALL THE ELEVATIONS WERE RECONSTRUCTED AND THE ROOFS WERE COVERED WITH STONE SLABS.
MANKANOTS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF SMALL, FREESTANDING CRUCIFORM CHURCHES CONSTRUCTED IN ARMENIA IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY. THEY INCLUDE THE CHURCH OF ST. ANANIAS AT ALAMAN, ST. STEPANOS AT LMBAT, AGARAK, AND THE CHURCH IN ASTARAK CALLED KARMRAVOR. IN ALL THESE CHURCHES, THE DOME IS BUTTRESSED BY FOUR APSES AND COVERS THE ENTIRE CENTRAL SPACE. WITHIN THIS TYPE, HOWEVER, THERE ARE VARIATIONS.
(WITH THE GENEROSITY AND ASSISTANCE OF THE ARMENIAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF AMERICA, IN WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.)
