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Sourp Khach Armenian Church

Turkey / Van / Gevas /
 church, place with historical importance, Armenian Apostolic church, historical building

St. Cross Armenian Church
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   38°20'25"N   43°2'12"E

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  • THE KING (guest)
    The Church of the Holy Cross (Armenian: Սուրբ Խաչ, Surb Khach) on Akhtamar Island, in Turkey, was a cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church, built as a palace church for the kings of Vaspurakan and later serving as the seat of the Armenian Catholicosate of Aght'amar.After the Armenian Genocide, the church was exposed to extensive vandalism. The ornate stone balustrade of the royal gallery has completely disapeared and comparisons with pre-1914 photographs show many cases of damage to the relief carvings. The khatchkar of Catholicos Stephanos, dated 1340, was, by 1956, badly mutilated with large sections of its carvings hacked off. In 1956 only the bottom third of another ornate khachkar, dated 1444, was left - it was intact when photographed by Bachmann in 1911. The 19th-century tombstone of Khatchatur Mokatsi, still intact in 1956, was later smashed into fragments.Before the restoration of the church, the reliefs on the church wall used as a military training ground.
This article was last modified 4 years ago