Aghtamar

Aghtamar is an island in Lake Van, about three kilometers from the shore in the Gevaş district of Van Province. It is the second largest of the four islands in the lake.¹ On it stands the Church of the Holy Cross, built between 915 and 921 by the architect Manuel, a bishop, for King Gagik I Artsruni of Vaspurakan, who ruled as a vassal of the Abbasid caliphs.¹²

The church

The church is a tetraconch, with four apses opening off the central space. Its stone reliefs wrap around the building in bands, and in places they stand out from the wall as sculpture. They show scenes from the Bible, hunting and palace scenes, daily life, animals, and floral and geometric ornament.²¹ On the west facade King Gagik offers a model of the church to Christ. The east facade has a figure of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir.¹

The crown of the dome collapsed and was rebuilt in the thirteenth century. In 1298 Catholicos Stepanos built a small church to the northeast.²

History

In 927 the seat of the Armenian Catholicosate moved to Aghtamar, and in 947 to Arghina. The Catholicosate of Aghtamar was set up in 1116 and lasted until 1895.¹ The poet Hovhannes Tumanyan wrote a poem titled “Aghtamar”.³ A manuscript copied on the island in 1430 carries khaz notation (see Khaz notation).⁴ The church was abandoned during the First World War. It was restored in 2005 and 2006 and opened as a monument museum in 2007, and since 2010 a religious service has been allowed there once a year.¹