| |
AGENCY FOR CONSERVATION
OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MONUMENTS
CATHEDRAL OF TALIN
(SEVENTH–CENTURY)
THE CATHEDRAL OF TALIN IS A LONGITUDINAL THREE–AISLED CHURCH WITH A DOME AND THREE PROJECTING APSES ON THE EAST, NORTH, AND SOUTH SIDES. IT WAS PROBABLY COMMISSIONED BY PRINCE NERSEH KAMSARAKAN. ITS PLAN SEEMS TO BE A SYNTHESIS OF A CRUCIFORM CHURCH AND THE OLDER ARMENIAN DOMED BASILICA–TYPE CHURCHES. EACH APSE IS POLYGONAL ON THE EXTERIOR. ENTRANCES ARE ON THE NORTH, SOUTH AND WEST SIDES.
FOUR LARGE PIERS, LINKED BY ARCHES, DEFINE THE CENTRAL SQUARE THAT SUPPORTED THE NOW COLLAPSED DOME. PENDENTIVES MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM THE SQUARE BELOW TO THE CIRCULAR DRUM OF THE DOME ABOVE. THE EAST APSE HAS THREE WINDOWS FRAMED ON THE EXTERIOR WITH A BLIND ARCADE. FLORAL AND GEOMETRIC MOTIFS ARE CARVED ON THE ARCHES WHICH REST ON SLENDER DOUBLE COLONNETTES. A SIMILAR ARCADE FRAMES THE WINDOWS OF THE DRUM. OTHER OPENINGS ARE CROWNED WITH ARCHES, EACH WITH OF A BAND OF SCULPTURED ORNAMENT. TRACES OF COLOR REMAIN ON THE EXTERIOR CORNICES AND CROWNS OF THE WINDOWS.
REMNANTS OF WALL PAINTINGS CORROBORATE STATEMENTS OF VRTANES KERTOUGH IN THE LATE SIXTH OR EARLY SEVENTH CENTURY THAT GOSPEL CYCLES WERE PAINTED ON ARMENIAN CHURCH INTERIORS. CHRIST'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM IS REPRESENTED ON THE SOUTH WALL. AT PRESENT, THERE ARE ONLY TRACES OF THE PORTRAITS OF THE SIX APOSTLES.
TALIN CONTAINS THE ONLY SURVIVING ARMENIAN EXAMPLE OF A WALL PAINTING SHOWING CHRIST IN A MEDALLION WITH BUSTS OF THE APOSTLES. THE FIGURES SURROUND THE APSE ARCH. PORTRAITS OF SAINTS STAND IN PAIRS BETWEEN THE WINDOWS OF THE APSE.
AN EARTHQUAKE DESTROYED THE DOME AND PART OF THE DRUM IN 1840. RESTORATION BEGAN IN 1947 BUT WAS NOT COMPLETED.
THE NEARBY CHURCH OF ST. ASDVADZADZIN (MOTHER OF GOD), IS ONE OF A SERIES OF SMALL, FREE–STANDING CRUCIFORM CHURCHES BUILT IN SEVENTH CENTURY ARMENIA. AN INSCRIPTION STATES THAT IT WAS BUILT BY PRINCE NERSEH KAMSARAKAN. IT HAS THREE APSES. THE WEST BAY IS SQUARE AND LONGER THAN THE OTHER THREE ARMS. THE ENTRANCE IS FROM THE WEST. THE MARKS OF SEVEN DIFFERENT MASONS HAVE BEEN FOUND ON THE CHURCH.
(WITH THE GENEROSITY AND ASSISTANCE OF THE ARMENIAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF AMERICA, IN WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.)
|
|
