1843.J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



183 



ANI CHURCH IN ARMENIA. 



Description of a church at Ani in Armenia, translated from the " Revue 

 Generate de I' jSrchi/ecture," 1842,/;. 102. 



C With an Engraving, Plate VII.) 



By Professor Donaldson, Vice-President. 



(Read at the Royal Institute of British Architects.) 



Amongst the ruins of Ani are two churches in an almost perfect 

 state of preservation, upon which Armenian writers have expressed 

 both their censures and praises. We can form a sufficiently correct 

 notion of the extent and character of the monuments mentioned in 

 history. From the enthusiastic manner in which the Armenian au- 

 thors speak of the metropolitan church at Ani, it would appear that 

 it was considered one of the chefs d'ceuvre of Armenian architecture, 

 and that this temple was the type of all the religious edifices after- 

 wards erected throughout Armenia. 



At the time that the princes of the family of Pagratides were in 

 tranquility, they removed their seat of dominion to Ani. Aschod I. 

 received the royal crown of Armenia from Osdigan Ysa, in the for- 

 tress of Ani, in the year 885 of our era. Ten years later, Sempad, 

 his son, added fresh possessions to his inheritance. He was, however, 

 taken prisoner by the Arabs, carried to Tovin, where he died in tor- 

 ture. The throne of Ani was not, however, shaken by this blow ; 

 the Greek emperors signed a treaty with Aschod II., and the Arme- 

 nian princes redoubled their exertions to render Ani a formidable 

 station. Its situation was naturally strong, and they added fresh forti- 

 fications. I shall now examine in detail the most important edifices 

 of these ruins. So long as Armenia was addicted to the supersti- 

 tions of the East, she was the more naturally led to borrow from the 

 arts of Persia, the elements of her national architecture. But when 

 the preaching of Gregory the Illuminator had had its due effect, 

 when the Armenians abandoned their ancient faith and adopted with 

 ardour the Christian religion, a breach arose between the two people, 

 which was signalised by wars and massacres, which terminated in an 

 interested, if not sincere, alliance between the Armenians and Greeks 

 of Byzantium. Whatever concerned the new religion, became an object 

 of common interest to the two Christian nations. The Armenians 

 had, perhaps, outstripped the Greeks, in their submission to the new 

 law, but the ardent spirits of the latter were not satisfied with a mere 

 speculative faith ; they built churches and monasteries in all parts of 

 the country, which came within the communion of the faithful. It 

 was like a forcible possession, which the reactions of Paganism some- 

 times shook, but which they could never recover. We may trace in 

 the progress of Byzantine architecture, the gropings of the first 

 Christians to find a temple, which might give as a whole a striking 

 symbol of Christianity. During five centuries, the Christians sought, 

 without appearing to be satisfied. Hence it arises that in the reli- 

 gious monuments of the four first ages, is found the greatest variety, 

 if not taste. They are, in fact, ancient temples, with the porticos 

 closed to form the nave. At other times all the peristyle of the 

 temple is enclosed within an exterior wall, and thus the Pagan edifice 

 becomes an immense basilica. Some bishops built circular churches, 

 or rather, as at Hieropolis, the church is formed of a certain number 

 of beams simply covered by a roof, such as are now used for ware- 

 houses and sheds. After the fifth century, light broke in upon the 

 Christian artists, which tradition expressed, saying that an angel had 

 appeared to Justinian, in order to trace out for him the plan for his 

 new temple, which model has been alone imitated, to the exclusion of 

 all others throughout the whole Byzantine empire. There is no trace 

 amongst the Armenians of this natural progress of an original genius. 

 Being always the vassal empire of a foreign people, it yielded uncon- 

 sciously to the influence of its neighbours, and adopted their arts and 

 literature. We are unacquainted with the style of the Christian art 

 in Armenia during the first seven or eight centuries of our era. The 

 undecided character of the people was evident in all their composi- 

 tions. Some of them are, however, not devoid of elegance, but in all 

 , No. 69.— Voi. VI.— June, 1813. 



there is a deficiency of strength and severity of character. The 

 chief defect among the Armenian artists, was their ignorance of 

 what we may call feeling for proportion, and not knowing how to 

 adopt with propriety the ornaments of the masses of which they 

 formed the decoration. Hence it results that the aspect of their 

 buildings presents a cold and mean appearance, for there is no play of 

 light and shade to give value to the large surfaces which only present 

 small columns, without relief, on which the eye may repose. 



This defect was not chargeable to the Byzantines, who generally 

 sought in the facades of their buildings to produce striking effects of 

 light and shade, by. placing some harmonious relief between the sur- 

 face of the solids and voids. The delicacy of detail was generally 

 sacrificed to the mass, the proportions of the columns were rather 

 heavy than slight, and they endeavoured to gain the height by raising 

 the semi-circular arch one-fourth of its diameter above the springing. 

 We recognise this character particularly in the edifices of the period, 

 of Basilicus and of Coustantine Monomachus. The Armenians evi- 

 dence in their choice of ornaments, more of the Arab than the Roman 

 taste. All their details are executed with great delicacy. The use 

 of columns is very restricted, they are usually engaged and take the 

 place of pilasters. One of the edifices in the town of Ani, in which 

 is found isolated columns, was constructed during the period when 

 the Arabs were masters of Armenia; it is the monument near to 

 which is a minaret, which I consider the principal mosque. Other 

 columns belonging to the porch of a church, also, have capitals of the 

 Arab character. 



Upon surveying the circuit of the walls of the town, we recognise 

 the exaggeration of the chroniclers of the times. Matthew d'Edessa 

 thus expresses himself, in speaking of the royal city : " In 1064 the 

 sultan Alp-Arslan, brother of Toghrul Bey, determined to conquer 

 Armenia, and encamped before the royal city of Ani, which was then 

 in the possession of the Greek Emperors. This town contained an 

 immense population, and a thousand and one churches where mass 

 was said." John Alathir, the Arab historian, records the same fact, 

 but only mentions five hundred churches. " Arslan fixes the siege of 

 Ani in the year 10G4. This town was protected by two deep vallies; 

 it contained some magnificent monuments, and one might count in it 

 more than five hundred churches." To judge from the present ruins, 

 it would be difficult to conceive that the number of temples dedicated 

 to the Christian religion exceeded fifty, even including the baptiste- 

 ries and the altars of cross-ways with their pictures. 



But this people, who never had the instinct for great works, were 

 satisfied with admiring monuments which are useful to study as the 

 history of art, but which must not be compared to the edifices of the 

 East, to the vast Latin basilicas, nor even to the mosques of Ismalism, 

 erected by the Turkish or Seldjioukides sultans. 



The peculiar character of the religious architecture of the Arme- 

 nians, is the exclusion of the spherical cupola, which is replaced by a 

 conical ceiling. This species of construction applied to the edifices 

 of Ani, is also found in a great number of Arab tombs, in Cappadocia, 

 which was in the possession of the kings of Armenia for severa* 

 centuries. As these monuments are of a more recent date than those 

 of Ani, there is reason to believe that the Seldjioukides adopted the 

 spirit of the Armenian monuments. 



The plan of the metropolitan church of Ani is composed of a nave, 

 with transepts, in the centre of which is placed a dome, and side 

 ailes. The entire length of the church is 105 feet, and its width 

 05 feet 6 inches, that is to say, the proportion of the edifice does not 

 exceed those of some of our village churches. The dome is sup- 

 ported by four pillars composed of a group of shafts (feiseaux) which 

 run up to the impost, and which are carried up so as to form a Gothic 

 arch. 



The lateral arches, which separate the nave from the side ailes, 

 have their imposts at half the height of the large isolated pillars, 

 and the higher arches spring from engaged pillars, the shafts and pro- 

 jections of which correspond with the isolated pillars. The choir is 

 composed of a hemicycle, which is decorated with ten small niches, 

 divided from each other by double columns. The altar is placed in 



