Church of Saint Elia, Kizkale explained

40.4963°N 43.5686°WThe Church of Saint Elia^[1] also Zakare's church,^[2] is located in Kizkale, near Ani in Turkey. It was built by the Zakarids in the early 13th century, as well as the nearby church of Tigran Honents.^{[3] [4]}

The building of the church came at a tumultuous period: in 1064 the city of Ani had been captured by the Seljuks from the Byzantines, who granted it to a Kurdish line of Muslim emirs known as the Sheddadids.^[5] Then in 1199, the Zakarids, vassals of the Kingdom of Georgia, captured Ani with a combined Georgian and Armenian army.^{[5] [3]} Ani was then captured and destroyed by the Mongols in 1239.^[6]

Part of an inscription on the church reports its building at the time of Queen Tamar (ruled 1184–1213) by Zakare amirspasalar (Commander-in-Chief of the Georgian army), probably circa 1200:^[2]

In another part of the inscription the brothers Ivane and Zakare are described as "Kings of Armenia".^[7]

Parts of the church have collapsed in the 1988 earthquake.^[8]

External links

• Web site: Ani, église d'Aghjkaberd (Many high quality photographs) . Vanker.org : Monuments et sites au fil de l’Akhourian et autour du lac de Van . fr-FR.
• Web site: Armenian Architecture - VirtualANI - The Kizkale peninsula at Ani . virtualani.org.

Sources

• Book: Kalas . Veronica . Tumanishvili . D. . Georgian Arts in the Context of European and Asian Cultures . 211–216 . The Georgian Aspects of Medieval Architecture at Ani in the Thirteenth Century: The Church of Tigran Honents and the Mosque of Minuchir . 2008 . Georgia Arts and Cultural Center . Tbilissi .
• Book: Blessing . Patricia . Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia, 1100-1500 . 8 March 2017 . Edinburgh University Press . 978-1-4744-1130-1 . 156–159 . en.

Notes and References

1. Other names include Virgin's Castle, Kiz Kalesi, Kuysiamrots, Kusanats, Surp Astvadzadzin, the church of Zak'aria, the church of Zak'are, the church of Kizkale, see Web site: Armenian Architecture - VirtualANI - The Kizkale peninsula at Ani . virtualani.org.
2. Kazaryan . Armen . Loshkareva . Ekaterina. Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Architecture: Heritage, Traditions and Innovations (AHTI 2019) . Preliminary Study of the Architecture and the Plastic Arts of the Zak'are Church in the Inner Castle (Aghjkaberd) of Ani . 2019 . 10.2991/ahti-19.2019.23. free .
3. Book: Sinclair . T. A. . Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume I . 31 December 1989 . Pindar Press . 978-0-907132-32-5 . 358–359 . en.
4. p.211: "The Church of St. Gregory of Tigran Honents, dated by an inscription in Armenian on the exterior of the church to 2015."
   p.212: "The church dedicated to St. Gregory the llluminator, was founded by the wealthy merchant Tigran Honents in 1215, when the city was under the control of Zakarians."
5. "In 1064 the Seljuk Turks captured the city, and granted it to a Kurdish line of muslim emirs known as the Sheddadids, who intermarried with the Bagratid family, and who were also vassals of the Seljuks. The Sheddadids ruled Ani for a hundred years, from about 1072 to 1199, during which time Georgian leaders attacked the city on several occasions. A Georgian alliance of princes known as the Zakarids (referred to as the Mqargrdzeli in Georgian sources), with a combined Georgian and Armenian army, eventually took Ani and ruled there from 1199 to 1237."
6. Book: McDaniel . Ryan James . THE MONGOL INVASIONS OF THE NEAR EAST . 2005 . San Jose State University . 127–128 . Awag surrendered in the name all of Georgia agreeing to pay tribute and to have his troops join the Mongol army. (...) Chormaqan took his own force west to the ancient capital of Armenia, Ani, and Awag accompanied him. The city was under the authority of Shahnshah and the leaders hesitated to surrender. A mob killed the Mongol envoys, and as was their custom in such circumstances, the Mongols relentlessly assaulted the city. Some of the princes surrendered in exchange for a promise of clemency, but after they came out the Mongols divided them up and killed them all. The survivors in the city were enslaved. The destruction was so fierce that the city of Kars surrendered without a fight, hoping to avoid Ani’s fate..
7. Book: Lidov . Aleksej M. . The mural paintings of Akhtala . 1991 . 10.11588/diglit.27365 . 15 . Another inscription in Zakare's church in the town of Ani, which was reconquered in 1199 and regained the status of the capital of Armenia, calls the brothers "kings of Armenia"..
8. Kazaryan . Armen . Loshkareva . Ekaterina. Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Architecture: Heritage, Traditions and Innovations (AHTI 2019) . Preliminary Study of the Architecture and the Plastic Arts of the Zak'are Church in the Inner Castle (Aghjkaberd) of Ani . 2019 . 10.2991/ahti-19.2019.23 . Its condition worsens after the earthquake of 1988, when the Eastern part of the Southern wall collapsed, on which a construction inscription has been located.. free .