Tekor Church

The Church of Saint Sarkis in Tekor (also known as the Tekor Basilica Armenian: Տեկորի տաճար) was a 5th-century Armenian church built in historical Armenia.^[1] It was located facing the town of Digor in the Kars Province of Turkey, about 16 kilometers west of the Armenian border. Tekor was a three aisled basilica with a dome. It was severely damaged by earthquakes in 1912 and 1936, and later damaged by vandalism. Now only the lower parts of the rubble and concrete core of the walls remain, the facing stone apparently removed to build the town hall (now itself demolished) in the 1960s. The inscription dating the building to the 480s was the oldest known writing in the Armenian language.^[2]

Church of Saint Sarkis, Tekor
Tekor Basilica in an engraving from the 1840s
Religion
Affiliation	Armenian Apostolic Church
Status	completely destroyed by local Turkish municipality
Location
Location	Digor, Turkey
Shown within Turkey
Geographic coordinates	40.371389°N 43.414722°E / 40.371389; 43.414722
Architecture
Style	Armenian
Groundbreaking	5th century
Completed	10th century

Architectural significance

Plan of Tekor Basilica

A watercolor by Arshak Fetvadjian from the early 20th century^[3][4]

The Basilica of Saint Sarkis is significant in Armenian architectural history because its stone dome was among the earliest to be constructed in Armenia. Until its destruction, Tekor was the oldest extant domed church in Armenia.^[5]

Gallery

• 
  Picture of Tekor Basilica in 1881
• 
  front view
• 
  side view
• 
  Photo by Aram Vruyr before the 1912 earthquake
• 
  from the northwest before the 1912 earthquake
• 
  from the southwest after the 1912 earthquake
• 
  Tekor Basilica before earthquake in 1912

See also

• Yererouk, a contemporaneous 4th-5th century Armenian basilica about 18 kilometres northwest of Digor, in Armenia.

References

1. Edwards, Robert W., "Tekor" (2016). The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology, ed., Paul Corby Finney. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 572–573. ISBN 978-0-8028-9017-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
2. THE TEKOR BASILICA at VirtualAni.org
3. "Տեկորի Սբ. Երրորդության ավերակ եկեղեցին (Զ-րդ դարի Ա կեսի օրերից)". gallery.am (in Armenian). National Gallery of Armenia. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023.
5. Kouymjian, Dickran. "Index of Armenian Art: Armenian Architecture - Tekor: St. Sarkiss". Armenian Studies Program. California State University, Fresno. Archived from the original on 2008-06-20.

Bibliography

• Armen, Garbis (1992), An Architecture of Survival, ISBN 0-9695988-0-7
• Տեկորի տաճարը, Թորոս Թօրամանեան, Թիֆլիս, 1911։