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 * Church of the Redeemer, Ani

The Church of the Redeemer or the Church of the Holy Redeemer (Սուրբ Փրկիչ եկեղեցի, Surb Prkich yekeghetsi) is a ruined Armenian Apostolic church in the medieval city of Ani, in present-day Turkey.

History
According to an inscription in Armenian on its exterior, the Church of the Redeemer was built in 1035 CE to house a piece of the True Cross.

Dramatically sliced in half after its eastern section collapsed during a storm in 1957, the church features a unique and complex architecture based on a play of geometric shapes.90 The plan is circular but the exterior constitutes a nineteen-sided polygon; the interior features eight apses and the high drum is round. The wall paintings on the interior are in poor condition, and some have been whitewashed with industrial paint.91 The building has long been in a structurally precarious state.

Preservation efforts
Ani Cathedral

The restoration plans of the Ministry of Culture are proceeding apace. In 2008, Özkaya’s firm won the tender to restore additional structures.

Since July 2012, Özkaya has also coordinated the restoration of the Church of the Redeemer. Along with the cathedral, it is being conserved through the much-publicized historic partnership between the Ministry of Culture and the World Monuments Fund with support from the US Department of State’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.85

To address the Church of the Redeemer’s conservation, Özkaya assembled a multidisciplinary team with specialists in engineering and seismology in addition to preservation design. Using scientific technology, his firm monitored the effect on the building of wind, humidity, seismicity, and other conditions, and studied structural cracks. A threedimensional scan and catalog of the fallen pieces as well as some excavation in the vicinity revealed that the Church of the Redeemer sits on what appears to be a circular pedestal. Additional excavation and clearing uncovered the original floor and found the remains of a bell tower with related structures nearby; such work will eventually clarify the monument’s articulation to the urban fabric.92 Özkaya’s team coordinated its work with that of the excavators.

Architecture
The dome of the Church of the Redeemer (Prkitch) is 25 meters high. The church, erected in 1035, was cut in half by the 1319 earthquake. Most of what remained collapsed during a storm in the 1950s. This photo is from 2007.

Half of a church; Only one half of the Church of the Redeemer remains – a monument to both the artistic prowess of the Armenian Bagratid Dynasty and the inevitability of time. Propped up by extensive scaffolding now, the church was an impressive architectural feat when it was built. It featured 19 archways and a dome, all made from local reddish-brown volcanic basalt. The church also housed a fragment of the True Cross, upon which Jesus was crucified. The church’s patron, Prince Ablgharib Pahlavid, reportedly obtained the relic during a visit to the Byzantine court at Constantinople.

Symbolism and significance
Yavuz Özkaya, the restoration architect, describes it as “one of the most vulnerable yet astonishing structures in Ani (maybe on earth).”89

It appears on the cover of Armenian Kars and Ani (2011), edited by Richard G. Hovannisian.

Gallery

 * Category:Church of the Holy Redeemer, Ani

https://www.armenianimage.org/exhibition-part1-ohannes-kurkdjian/exhibition-ohannes-kurkdjian/?_page=4

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Arshak Fetvadjian http://www.virtualani.org/fetvadjian/index.htm http://www.virtualani.org/fetvadjian/fetvadjian-ani_album3.jpg