Yeghegis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Script error: No such module "For". Script error: No such module "Coordinates". Script error: No such module "Settlement short description".Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Expression error: Unexpected < operator. Yeghegis (Template:Langx) is a village in the Yeghegis Municipality of the Vayots Dzor Province in Armenia. It has a rich historical past, with the medieval Zorats Church, the Tsakhats Kar Monastery and the Smbataberd fortress being located in the vicinity of Yeghegis, as well as a Jewish cemetery from the 13th century.[1]

Toponymy

The name Yeghegis originated from the Armenian word Script error: No such module "lang". which means reed.[2] The village was also previously known as Alagyaz and Erdapin.

History

File:St. Stepanos Church in Yeghegis 02.JPG
Zorats Church, dedicated in 1303 (also known as St. Stepanos Church)

Yeghegis was a prominent economic and political centre during the Middle Ages, being the seat of the Orbelian Dynasty in the 13th and 14th centuries, which ruled most of Zangezur. However, after the incursion of the armies of Timur, as well as Turkmen and Persian forces, Orbelian rule ended by the 15th century. After numerous earthquakes ruined Yeghegis and with the local Armenian population being forcibly exiled into Persia, the village was abandoned. Later the village was populated by Turkish-speaking residents. Following the Sumgait pogrom in 1988, Armenian refugees deported from Azerbaijan settled in the village.[3]

Refugees from Sumgait settled in the village in 1988.[4]

Zorats Church

Zorats Church (Template:Langx, Template:Lit) is a unique Armenian church on a hill close to Yeghegis. It was dedicated in 1303 by archbishop Stepanos, during a period in which Armenia was a Mongol vassal state. The church was designed so that cavalry could receive the sacraments without getting off their horses.[4]

Jewish cemetery

There is a Jewish cemetery in Yeghegis that dates from the period between the 13th and 14th centuries, with the oldest tombstone in the cemetery having been dated to be from 1266 AD and the most recent one having been dated to be from 1346 AD. The Jewish community living in Yeghegis likely had an Iranian origin.[1][4] The lost community was rediscovered by Bishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, who, together with his brother, stumbled across the place while making a camp for some orphans from the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. The cemetery consisted of 64 different gravestones that are believed to have come from an isolated community from the Jewish communities of Iran and the Caucasus.[5]

Gallery

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. a b One Way Tour - Jewish Cemetery in Yeghegis
  2. Kiesling, Brady (2005), Rediscovering Armenia: Guide, Yerevan, Armenia: Matit Graphic Design Studio, see Tsaghats Kar Monastery.
  3. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. a b c Armenian Monuments Awareness Project (AMAP) - Armenian Heritage - YeghegisTemplate:Category handler[<span title="Script error: No such module "string".">usurped]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  5. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

External links

Template:Sister project

Template:Vayots Dzor Template:Portal bar