A couple of days ago my visitors from Jerusalem returned to Yerevan. They arrived at 5:30 AM and after a four-hour nap, we headed out to tour a couple of churches.
Our first stop was Gandzasar. I had been to Gandzasar a couple of months ago with a group of students from California, but really didn�t go inside or look around. This time one of my visitors was Fr. Isahag, thus this made the visit more official. We found Der Hovanness who met with us and gave us a tour of the church. Incredible what they have done to restore Gandzasar. The tour by Der Hovanness was also very interesting and though I had been to Gandzasar half a dozen times, this was the first tour I had been on with Der Hovanness who showed us all the ins and outs. It was very enjoyable.
For those of you who don�t know the story of Gandzasar in relation to the war, it was the church that was attacked from all sides and when the people felt that they were going to loose to the invading Turks, started to flee. The story goes that they only returned because the Der Hyr of the church, Der Hovanness, refused to give up, picked up an AK-47 and alone began fighting the Turks. The people seeing that Der Hovanness was ready to fight to the death, felt shameful and returned to fight along side this very brave spiritual leader. Though they lost someone to shelling during that defense, they were able to hold off the Turks until reinforcements were able to come in and drive the attackers away.
We finished our visit with a meal of homegrown everything and discussed his work and the condition of the church. He told us that the seminary they are building will be ready by September of next year. Der Hovanness is not only the spiritual leader for Gandzasar, but also supervising construction and making sure that the grounds are kept in order and the road receives the needed repairs so visitors can visit year round.
I asked him how they finance the church, knowing well that they are a financially poor church. He said that they do it somehow with the help of God and an occasional visitor who gives a gift. He said that the biggest problem right now is the road that needs to be repaired every couple of days in the way of grading and filling holes with gravel. The cost of such a job is around $100 each time. If they had asphalt, it would take care of most of their road problems. I know that when I was last in the states a couple of years ago, there was a group of families from Glendale that were talking about financing that road and when I asked him if they ever contacted him or the diocese, he said he had not heard anything. I guess I�ll have to drop Der Arshag who is the Der Hyr at St. James in L.A. an e-mail and have him contact those people to see if they are still interested.
From Gandzasar, we drove to Dadivank in the Martakert region. Again, an incredible place and one that is really shaping up. They are in the process if restoring it and doing a great job.
We got back to Martuni really late and after a meal at the Mayor�s house, went home and crashed.
The next day my visitors left for Goris to go visit Armen Sinanian, the Stolebearer who was shot and almost killed by an Israeli exploding bullet (the kind that are internationally illegal to use) in the Church of the Nativity standoff last April. He is in Goris I guess visiting family and is planning on returning to Jerusalem soon to continue his work.
Our first stop was Gandzasar. I had been to Gandzasar a couple of months ago with a group of students from California, but really didn�t go inside or look around. This time one of my visitors was Fr. Isahag, thus this made the visit more official. We found Der Hovanness who met with us and gave us a tour of the church. Incredible what they have done to restore Gandzasar. The tour by Der Hovanness was also very interesting and though I had been to Gandzasar half a dozen times, this was the first tour I had been on with Der Hovanness who showed us all the ins and outs. It was very enjoyable.
For those of you who don�t know the story of Gandzasar in relation to the war, it was the church that was attacked from all sides and when the people felt that they were going to loose to the invading Turks, started to flee. The story goes that they only returned because the Der Hyr of the church, Der Hovanness, refused to give up, picked up an AK-47 and alone began fighting the Turks. The people seeing that Der Hovanness was ready to fight to the death, felt shameful and returned to fight along side this very brave spiritual leader. Though they lost someone to shelling during that defense, they were able to hold off the Turks until reinforcements were able to come in and drive the attackers away.We finished our visit with a meal of homegrown everything and discussed his work and the condition of the church. He told us that the seminary they are building will be ready by September of next year. Der Hovanness is not only the spiritual leader for Gandzasar, but also supervising construction and making sure that the grounds are kept in order and the road receives the needed repairs so visitors can visit year round.
I asked him how they finance the church, knowing well that they are a financially poor church. He said that they do it somehow with the help of God and an occasional visitor who gives a gift. He said that the biggest problem right now is the road that needs to be repaired every couple of days in the way of grading and filling holes with gravel. The cost of such a job is around $100 each time. If they had asphalt, it would take care of most of their road problems. I know that when I was last in the states a couple of years ago, there was a group of families from Glendale that were talking about financing that road and when I asked him if they ever contacted him or the diocese, he said he had not heard anything. I guess I�ll have to drop Der Arshag who is the Der Hyr at St. James in L.A. an e-mail and have him contact those people to see if they are still interested.
From Gandzasar, we drove to Dadivank in the Martakert region. Again, an incredible place and one that is really shaping up. They are in the process if restoring it and doing a great job.
We got back to Martuni really late and after a meal at the Mayor�s house, went home and crashed.
The next day my visitors left for Goris to go visit Armen Sinanian, the Stolebearer who was shot and almost killed by an Israeli exploding bullet (the kind that are internationally illegal to use) in the Church of the Nativity standoff last April. He is in Goris I guess visiting family and is planning on returning to Jerusalem soon to continue his work.
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