St Gregory of Tigran Honents

The Church of St Gregory of Tigran Honents (Armenian: Սուրբ Տիգրան Հոնենց եկեղեցի), or Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator (Armenian: Սուրբ Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ եկեղեցի) is a medieval religious structure located in Ani, in Turkey's Kars province next to the closed border with Armenia. It was built by the Armenian Tigran Honents under the Zakarids in 1215, according to an inscription in Armenian on the exterior of the church.^[1][2]

Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator ("Tigran Honents")
Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator ("Tigran Honents")
Religion
Affiliation	Armenian Apostolic Church
Location
Location	Ani, Turkey, on the frontier with Armenia
Shown within Armenia Show map of Armenia St Gregory of Tigran Honents (Turkey) Show map of Turkey St Gregory of Tigran Honents (West and Central Asia) Show map of West and Central Asia
Geographic coordinates	40°30′27″N 43°34′22″E
Architecture
Style	Armenian
Completed	1215
Dome(s)	1

Context

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.^[3] Then in 1199, the Zakarids, vassals of the Kingdom of Georgia, captured Ani with a combined Georgian and Armenian army.^[3][4] Their reconquest of Ani and a large part of historical Armenia greatly revived the fortunes of the region, essentially thanks to increased trade.^[5] The actual extent of the Zakarians' vassalship towards the Georgian crown remains unknown, but it may have been purely nominal, especially since as they adopted "the trappings of both Christian and Muslim royal power", as shown in their adoption of the title "Shahanshah" (king of kings) for their names and titles.^[5] In the dedicatory inscription of Tigran Honents, the Zakarians are referred to as the only "overlords", and the "powerful masters of the universe".^[5][6]

After only a few decades of restored Armenian control, Ani was then captured and destroyed by the Mongols in 1239, during the disastrous campaign leading to the Georgian–Mongolian treaty of 1239.^[7]

Construction

The Zakarids were active builders of religious monuments as shown by the church of Tigran Honents, or the Church of Kizkale, also in Ani.^[4][1]

Style

The interior of the church is covered in frescoes, which all follow Byzantine styles and layout.^[8] A large cycle (17 out of 18 scenes) is dedicated to Saint Gregory the llluminator, who was the evangelist of Armenia, but the murals also include one scene devoted to Saint Nino, the evangelist of Georgia.^[9][8][2] The various pictorial scenes are identified exclusively with painted labels in Greek and Georgian.^[8][10]

Inscriptions in Armenian are found engraved on the walls outside of the church, and are dedicatory in nature.^[8][10] Numerous sculptures, mainly representing animals and decorating walls and pillar capitals also have Armenian inscriptions: each carved stone in the church is engraved with a letter in the Armenian alphabet, probably used as mason's marks.^[11]

The church has a large quantity of murals, many of them depicting the events of the life of Tiridates III of Armenia ("Trdat"), the first Christian ruler of Armenia.^[4] The paintings are focused on the main feasts of the Chalcedonian Church.^[12] They may have been completed a few years after the construction of the church, but they are still the earliest known fresco program in Ani.^[12] The paintings, exclusively labelled in Georgian, may have belonged to a Georgian artistic tradition, as suggested by style, technique (intense blue backgrounds), and iconographical details.^[13]

Islamic features have also been identified in the muqarnas decorative elements of some of the capitals, and in the sculptures on the outside of the church, especially in the animal repertoire.^[14]

Attribution

Interior of the church, covered with frescoes

Ani and its region had mixed confessional identities, with Armenians being mainly Monophysites, and Georgians and Greeks mainly Chalcedonian Christians, and relations were often conflictual.^[15] But the boundaries were moveable: Ivane I Zakarian had converted to Chalcedonism in the early 13th century, and a significant number of Armenians had followed him, voluntarily or not.^[15]

In St Gregory of Tigran Honents, the combination of scenes with the myths of the evangelists of Armenia and Georgia might suggest a conflation of Armenian Monophysite and Georgian Chalcedonian rites.^[15] Still, the dedication by Tigran Honents is Monophysite in nature as it is made in the name of the "three holy councils and the nine choirs of angels".^[15] The style and iconography of the paintings does borrow from Georgian art and uses inscriptions in Georgian only, but several characteristics are decidedly Armenian and relate to Monophysism.^[16] Armenia relatively lacked a tradition of monumental painting at the time, so there is a possibility that Georgian artists had to be hired in order to accomplish the pictorial program.^[17]

Since the donator was identified as Armenian Monophysite in his inscription, but on the other hand the artistic program rather reflected the Chalcedonian faith, the church may also have belonged to a Chalcedonian community of Armenians, who had chosen to adopt Georgian styles and practices.^[10] Preferring to only take into account the style of the murals, one author has simplistically presented the church as a "Georgian church".^[18]

Alternatively, although the donator of the church was Armenian, the church may have served a larger community of both Armenians and Georgians.^[2] The Zakarids may also have promoted a level of ambiguity between the two faiths, and voluntarily mixed elements from both, minimizing differences, possibly as a political expedient helping them better rule their realm.^[19] This may be seen in the light of their other known efforts at church councils to bring together the Monophysite and Chalcedonian faiths, especially at the level of their outward expression, such as procedures and visual elements.^[20][19]

Dedication

The church was dedicated by the Armenian Tigran Honents (Dikran Honents), as declared in an inscription in Armenian on the southern wall of the church:^{[6][1][2][21]}

Shahnshah Zakarian was ruling Ani when the church was dedicated in 1215.^[6]

In the year 664 [1215], by the mercy of God, when the powerful master of the universe Amirspasalar and Mandaturtukhutsesi Zakare and his son Shahnshah became masters of this city of Ani, I Dikran, servant of God, son of Sulem of the Smpadawrents, of the Honents clan, for the sake of the long life of my lords and their sons built this monastery of St. Krikor, which used to be called "Mother of God of the Chapel", which was at a precipice and with wooded places, which I bought with my legitimate treasure from the hereditary owners, and by means of much labor and treasure I enclosed this church with a wall all around. I built this church in the name of Saint Krikor the Enlightener and adorned it with many ornaments, with symbols of salvation, with holy crosses of gold and silver, and painted images, adorned with gold and silver and jewels and pearl, and with lanterns of gold and silver, and with relics of the holy apostles, of the martyrs, and with part of the dominical cross that has received God, and with all kinds of utensils of gold and silver, and with numerous ornaments. I built all kinds of habitations for the monks and princes, and arranged in them priests who celebrate the mass of the body and blood of Christ to perform mass without obstruction for the long life of my lords Shahnshah and his sons, and for the absolution of my sins; and I gave this gift to this monastery of St. Krikor land which I had bought with treasure and by decision of the masters of the land, and which I had built from the foundation... [list of gifts] Now, if any of the great or small of my [people] or of foreigners attempt to obstruct what is written in my inscription, or usurp things from the products which are established in it, or obstruct the memory of this sinning servant of God for any reason, let such an individual be excluded from the glory of the son of God and inherit the punishment of Cain and Judas on his person and be anathematized by the three holy councils and the nine orders of angels and be responsible for our sins in front of God; and those who are obliging and keep firm are blessed by God. Israegh [Israel] the Scribe.

— Dedication of St Gregory by Tigran Honents.^[6]

Tigran Honentsis also known to have sponsored the renovation of a staircase in the Cathedral of Ani in 1213, and the building of the Monastery of the Virgins, also at Ani.^[22][21]

• 
  St Gregory of Tigran Honents, reconstruction.^[23]
• 
  Zakarid church of Tigran Honents, Ani, 1215.^[4]
• 
  Zakarid church of Tigran Honents, Ani, 1215.^[4]
• 
  Zakarid church of Tigran Honents, Ani, 1215.^[4]
• 
  Departure of Armenian king Tiridates III (c.250–330) with the Entourage of Georgian (Iberian), Laz and Albanian Kings for Their Christening. Zakarid church of Tigran Honents, Ani, 1215.^{[4][24][25][26]}
• 
  Wall decoration with facing dragons, at Tigran Honents

References

1. Kalas 2008, pp. 211–212 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."
2. Kalas 2008, p. 213 "The last scene, however, is devoted to St. Nino, the evangelist of Georgia, and depicts the miracle of the life-giving pillar, one of the key events in the establishment of Christianity in Georgia. Eastmond argues: "although the donor of the church (Tigran Honents) was Armenian, the church served a larger community at Ani composed of both Armenians and Georgians"."
3. Kalas 2008, p. 211 "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."
4. Sinclair, T. A. (31 December 1989). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume I. Pindar Press. pp. 358–359. ISBN 978-0-907132-32-5.
5. Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 734. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 20060787. The reconquest of Ani in 1199 by Zakare and Ivane revived the fortunes of the city and its surrounding region, but it placed it in a new political and cultural context. (...) However, other evidence suggests that this hierarchical structure may well have been purely nominal, leaving the brothers effectively as independent rulers of the region. Their subjects, such as Tigran Honents, refer to them alone as overlords, and the adoption of Shahanshah (king of kings) as both a name and title for their children demonstrates their appropriation of the trappings of both Christian and Muslim royal power. It has been argued, correctly I believe, that the Zakarids were trying to re-create the Armenian Bagratid kingdom of Ani of the tenth and eleventh centuries.
6. Palakʻean, Grigoris (2019). The Ruins of Ani: A Journey to Armenia's Medieval Capital and Its Legacy. Rutgers University Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-1-9788-0291-9.
7. McDaniel, Ryan James (2005). THE MONGOL INVASIONS OF THE NEAR EAST. San Jose State University. pp. 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.
8. Kalas 2008, p. 213 "All of the images in the church and their placement are in keeping with Byzantinizing frescoes at this time, in both style and layout. The inscriptions identifying the various scenes and figures are painted in Greek and Georgian, with Armenian reserved for the exterior dedicatory inscription carved on the church walls."
9. Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 726. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 20060787.
10. Blessing 2017, p. 158.
11. Palakʻean, Grigoris (2019). The Ruins of Ani: A Journey to Armenia's Medieval Capital and Its Legacy. Rutgers University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-9788-0291-9. Each carved stone of this church, built of polished and uniform stones, bears the letter Ա, Բ, Գ, or Ե, and so on [A, B, G, E and the succeeding letters of the Armenian alphabet, tr.].
12. Blessing 2017, p. 157.
13. Blessing 2017, p. 158 "Paintings were unusual in Armenian Ani (these are the earliest occurrence of wall paintings in the city) and those in the Church of Tigran Honents contain inscriptions exclusively in Greek and Georgian. Furthermore, style, technique (the intense bright blue of the background) and some iconographic details have directed art historians towards suggesting contemporary Georgian traditions as a source for these paintings."
14. Blessing 2017, p. 159.
15. Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 735-736. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 20060787. The mixed confessional identities of the population of Ani and its surrounding region led to rising tensions. There are numerous references to disputes arising between the two communities on matters including taxation and liturgical/worship practice. The division was matched by a split within the Zakarid family itself. Zakare and Ivane were brought up to adhere to Armenian, Monophysite Orthodoxy, but in the first years of the thirteenth century Ivane converted to Georgian, Chalcedonian Orthodoxy. According to the Georgian sources many Armenians joined him in converting. Ivane also forcibly converted some Armenian Monophysite churches to Chalcedonianism, notably the monastery of Akhtala, where he built his mausoleum church. Ivane's conversion is, unsurprisingly, cele brated in Georgian texts and condemned in Armenian chronicles, which ascribed it to political or religious causes (or to Ivane's infatuation with Queen Tamar).
16. Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 736. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 20060787. Although the paintings in the main body of the church follow Georgian precedents in terms of their style, their overall program, and their iconography, a number of features show that the church was significantly different from its Georgian neighbors. The most obvious of these is the concentration on the life of St. Gregory in the west arm of the church. Also, among the church fathers depicted in the apse are Sts. Aristakes and Vrtanes, the two sons of St. Gregory who succeeded him as patriarch of Armenia. Both men were venerated in the Armenian Orthodox Church, but not in the Greek or Georgian Church. These seem to indicate that the church adhered to Monophysite beliefs.
17. Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 736. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 20060787. It has been suggested that the relative lack of a tradition of monumental painting in Armenia forced Tigran Honents to rely on Georgian artists to carry out the paintings, but this presupposes far too limited and exclusive abilities for both Armenian and Georgian craftsmen. Moreover, the wall paintings in the tomb of Tigran Honents on the outskirts of Ani employ Armenian inscriptions.
18. Blessing 2017, p. 158 "In the secondary literature, the question of the religious identity of the Church of St Gregory the Illuminator of Ani emerges as being of primary importance. Its discussion is almost exclusively tied to the analysis of the paintings, to the extent that, according to one scholar, the interpretation of the paintings as Georgian (with regard to their style and some iconographical aspects) made the church sic et simpliciter a "Georgian" church."
19. Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 739. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 20060787. It is perhaps more useful to view the paintings in a more ambiguous way. The importance of the church may lie in the inability to ascribe it easily to one group. Such an approach would match the cultural and political policies of the Zakarids. The conversion of Ivane but not Zakare to Chalcedonianism was part of a pragmatic policy of deliberate religious ambiguity that enabled the brothers to avoid being drawn into factional battles between the two religious communities under their rule. It was implemented in a different way by Zakare, who attempted to reform the Armenian church after witnessing disputes between Georgian and Armenian troops under his command. His proposals were considered and agreed to at a church council at Sis, convened by Levon, the Armenian king in Cilicia, and his catholicos, Dawit. The eight demands concern only the outward expression of faith and technical and procedural points; none deals with matters of theology or dogma, the theoretical roots of the differences between the churches. Instead they are all concerned with the minimization of visible differences between the Armenians and the Georgians.
20. Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 740. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 20060787. Seen in this light, the peculiarities of the church of Tigran Honents find a clearer context, if not a complete explanation. The paintings appear to blur distinctions between the two communities and to reflect the ambiguity and pragmatism of the Zakarids' policy, and they suggest that Tigran Honents played a part in the formation or execution of this policy. The combination of languages, cycles, and saints cannot simply be ascribed exclusively to any one religious confession.
21. Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 725. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 20060787.
22. Palakʻean, Grigoris (2019). The Ruins of Ani: A Journey to Armenia's Medieval Capital and Its Legacy. Rutgers University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-9788-0291-9.
23. Alishan (1881). Shirak. Teghagrut'iwn patkerats'oyts' [Illustrated Topographical Study of Shirak].
24. Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 740, Fig.11. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 20060787.
25. "Church of Saint Gregory of Tigran Honents in Ani". Turkish Archaeological News. 10 December 2023.
26. Nersessian, Vrej (2001). Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. The British Library Board - Getty Museum. p. 193. This episode had been represented in the Church of St Gregory at Ani, built by Grigor Honents, in 1215. The king, surrounded by his friends and his army, all on horseback, scts out to greet Gregory

Sources

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

External links