Ghazanchetsots Cathedral

Foundation

According to historical records a small basilica church stood on its place as of 1722. The bell tower of the cathedral was founded in 1858—10 years earlier than the church proper. The three floored bell tower was financed by the Khandamiriants family. The church's construction began in 1868 and was completed in 1887. Its name comes from Ghazanchi, a village in Nakhichevan, migrants from which financed the church's construction. It was designed by Simon Ter-Hakobian(ts). The church was consecrated on September 20, 1888 according to an inscription on upper part of the southern portal. The inscription reads:

Decline

The majority of the Armenian population of Shusha was massacred or expelled in a March 1920 massacre. The cathedral was damaged and gradually declined. It functioned until 1930. In the 1940s it was used as a granary. Its dome and part of the walls surrounding it were destroyed in 1950s. It was then looted and its stones were used to build several upscale houses in the Azerbaijani part of the city. By the 1970s the cathedral "looked like it survived heavy shelling." Soviet and Azerbaijani authorities granted a permission to launch a restoration project of the cathedral in the 1980s under public pressure. The restoration began in 1981 and continued to till 1988 and was supervised by Volodya Babayan.

Nagorno-Karabakh War

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in February 1988 and Shusha's Armenian minority was expelled from the city. The cathedral was turned into an armory. According to Armenian political analyst Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan the cathedral was set to fire three times between 1988 and 1991 using car tires. He wrote that by the time of its capture "practically, only a stone skeleton had remained of the magnificent structure." Azerbaijanis dismantled the stone statues of angels on the bell tower (in 1989 according to Samvel Karapetyan). They reportedly sold off its bronze bell, which was later found in a market in Donetsk, Ukraine and was bought by an Armenian officer for 3 million rubles and sent it back to Armenia. When Shusha was captured by Armenian forces on May 9, 1992, it was a turning point of the war. Prior to the fall of Shusha, Azerbaijani forces stored hundreds of boxes of Grad missiles as the cathedral was safe from potential Armenian bombardment. Shusha was used as a base for shelling of Stepanakert, the largest city of Karabakh, with Grad launchers for several months. Armenian volunteers carried the wooden boxes out of the church immediately after the capture of the city. One of the most popular images of the war was taken by fighters from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaks) at the liberated cathedral.

Restoration and revival

Restoration of the church began soon after its capture by Armenian forces. As of 1997 it was reportedly the only building being restored in Shusha. Restoration works were primarily funded by benefactor Andreas Roubian from New Jersey who provided $110,000. Tens of thousands of dollars came from various Armenian diaspora communities and wealthy individuals. Cleanup and furnishing were completed in May 1998. The cathedral was reconsecrated on June 18, 1998 on the Feast of the Transfiguration by Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, the Primate of the Diocese of Artsakh. The first Divine Liturgy at the restored cathedral took place on July 19 with attendance of Nagorno-Karabakh President Arkadi Ghukasyan and officials from Armenia. Archbishop Sebouh Chouldjian read a letter sent by Catholicos Karekin I, who did not attend due to health problems.

Its reconstruction "was perceived more as a cultural process aimed at a restoration of the Armenian cultural heritage, a spiritual and physical 'rebirth' of the Armenian nation" and came to symbolize the rebirth of Shusha. It now "towers, immaculate once more, above the ruined town," wrote Thomas de Waal in his 2003 book Black Garden. Daniel Bardsley wrote that the cathedral is now "one of the few pristine-looking buildings in the city." It is a popular pilgrimage site for Armenians from Armenia and the diaspora. Catholicos Karekin II called the cathedral a symbol of the Armenian liberation movement of Artsakh during a mass at the cathedral in 2016.

Notable events

On October 16, 2008 a mass wedding, sponsored by Levon Hayrapetyan, a Russian-based businessman from Karabakh, took place in Nagorno-Karabakh. Some 700 couples got married on that day, 500 of whom were at Ghazanchetsots and 200 at Gandzasar monastery.

On April 14, 2016 Catholicos Karekin II and Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I delivered a prayer for peace and safety of Nagorno-Karabakh. It came days after the clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces which were the deadliest since the ceasefire of 1994.

Architecture

The cathedral's church is a domed basilica with four apsides. It is 34.7 m (114 ft) long and 23 m (75 ft) wide. Standing at a height of 35 m (115 ft), it is one of the largest Armenian churches. Its conical dome, the roof of which is metallic, is 17 m (56 ft) tall. The church has three identical entrances from the west, south and north. There are ornamental reliefs on the portals and windows. The church's floor plan is an imitation of that of Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's mother church. The cathedral is seen as having combined both innovative techniques and well-established traditions of Armenian architecture.

Both the church and the bell tower are build of white limestone. The bell tower has three floors (levels) which contains two bells, the larger of which was cast in Tula, Russia in 1857. Sculptures of angels blowing trumpets stand on the top of its first floor.

Significance

The cathedral is seen as a remnant of the 19th and early 20th century religious-cultural renaissance of Shusha.

Numerous manuscripts used to be kept at the cathedral, the earliest dated 1612. The Right Arm of Grigoris, the grandson of Gregory the Illuminator, is also kept at the church.