St. Hakob-Hayrapet Church of Agulis
Location: Yukhari Aylis (Az.) / Agulis (Arm.)
Destruction & Reuse
St. Hakob-Hayrapet Church, with its unique combination of stone and brick masonry, preserved very well over the centuries. 1,2,3 The church had a domed hall with a single-chamber nave and a two-storied rectangular apse (see plan below). Armenian inscriptions adorned the bottom of the dome and the western facade. As seen in the IKONOS satellite image below, St. Hakob-Hayrapet was destroyed by February 3, 2000. The lack of vegetation and signs of berms and debris piles suggest recent earthmoving activity. By September 6, 2021, a garden and what appears to be a pool occupied the former church site.
Drag the swipe tool right to see the intact church in 1982; drag left to see the site after its destruction amidst indices of recent earthmoving.
Photographs courtesy of Argam Ayvazyan Archive
Geolocation
St. Hakob-Hayrapet Church was located atop "Pokr sar" hill in the lower district of Agulis, approximately 240m northeast of St. Hovhannes-Mkrtich (N.029). 1,2 The church's location is marked on the 1:50K scale Soviet topographic map of 1977. CHW confirmed its precise location using KH-9 Hexagon satellite imagery dated July 29, 1973 and July 12, 1982.
Timeline
Image Gallery
Images © Argam Ayvazyan Archive, used with permission.
References
1 Ayvazyan, Argam. Nakhijevani ISSH haykakan hushardzannery. Hamahavak tsutsak. Yerevan: Hayastan, 1986, p. 29.
2 Ayvazyan, Argam. Agulis: Patmamshakutayin hushardzanner. Yerevan: Hayastan, 1984, p. 24.
3 Ayvazyan, Argam. The Historical Monuments of Nakhichevan. Transl. Krikor H. Maksoudian. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1990, p. 22.
4 Research on Armenian Architecture. Nakhijevan: Atlas. Yerevan: Tigran Metz Publishing House, 2012.
5 Generalnyi shtab, J-38-44-B (Dasta), 1:50,000, 1977.
6 KH-9 Hexagon, DSC1217-200631A01, July 12, 1982.
7 Maxar Technologies & East View Geospatial, February 3, 2000.
8 Maxar Technologies & ESRI, September 6, 2021.
