VarakandVaspurakan

AviewofVarakavankbyWalterBachmann(1913)(PublicDomain)

Idon’tthinkthattheresidentsofVaspurakanwereasinspiredbyAkhtamarasmuchastheywerebyVarak.Varak,morethanAkhtamar,spoketotheirheartsandminds,especiallyinthe

finalyears.TheliveslivedandactivitiesdoneinVarakwerebetterknownandmoreappreciated,wereclosertothecommonstratumofthepeople.Akhtamarwasopulence,

Varak,loveandsympathy.

DescribingthemonasteriesofVaspuraken,theregionofVan,theMkhitaristFatherHamazaspVoskiansuggeststhattheislandofAkhtamar,housingoneofthemosticonicofallArmenianchurches,theCathedraloftheHolyCross,wasnotasinspiringasthesetofmonasteriesandchurchesonthemountainofVarak,eastofthecityofVan.Thismountain,onwhichwasbuilttheMonasteryofVarakandtheMonasteryoftheHolySign,isatthecenteroftheuniquelyArmenianfeastoftheCrosswecelebratethisSunday,theFeastoftheHolyCrossofVarak.AccordingtothetraditionoftheArmenianChurch,St.HripsimeandhercompanionsbroughtarelicoftheHolyCrosstotheMountainofVarak,butthatitwashiddenuntilthe7thcentury,whenamonknamedTotigandhisstudentHovelsawanapparitionoftheCrossabovethemountainthatledthemtothesacredrelic.ThisrelicoftheHolyCrossremainedformanyyearsattheMonasteryoftheHolySignontheMountain.

VoskianwritesthatthehistoryofthefoundingoftheMonasteryofVarakis“shroudedinmist,”thoughtherewereclearlyalreadymonksandpilgrimsvisitingthemountainbythe7thcentury.VaspurakanorVan,ofcourse,isoneofthemostimportantregionsinallofhistoricArmenia.TheOrontiddynasty,thefirstroyallineageofanexplicitlyArmeniankingdom,hadtheirrootsintheregion.Theimportantnoble(nakharar)Rshtunifamilyalsohadvastholdingsinthearea.AfterthefalloftheArshakunidynastyandtheendofanindependentArmeniankingdominthe5thcentury,theArtsrunifamily

becamethemostpowerfulfamilyintheregionofVan.Eventually,inthe10thcentury,theArtsrunifamilybecametherulersoftheKingdomofVaspurakanwhenGagikArtsruniobtainedacrownfrombothArabandByzantineleaders,becomingGagikIin908.ThomasArtsruniwroteTheHistoryoftheHouseoftheArtsrunik‘toextolthevirtuesoftheroyalfamily.ThoughitisthinlyveiledpropagandatosupportthepredominanceoftheKingdomofVaspurakanovertheBagratidArmeniankingdominthenorth,theTheHistoryoftheHouseoftheArtsrunik‘isanimportantmedievalArmenianhistory,thefirsttexttociteMovsesKhorenatsi,andacrucialdepictionoftheregionofVanatthetime.

Duringthistime,theMonasteryofVarakandtheotherchurchesandmonasteriesonthemountainofVarakweresupremelyimportant.ThoughKingGagikIkepthiscourtontheislandofAkhtamaranditwasunderhisdirectionthattheCathedraloftheHolyCrosswasbuilt,asRobertHewsenwrites,“despitethelavishexpensedevotedtotheerectionofthecathedralatAghtamar,thenecropolisoftheArtsrunikingswaslocatedelsewhere,atamonasteryontheslopesofMountVaragknownasVaragavank.”Forgenerations,theArtsrunifamilymemberswereburiedatVarakank:eventheArtstrunikingwhomovedtoSepastiaorderedthathewouldbeburiedthereandthattherelicoftheTrueCrosswouldbesecuredattheMountainofVarak.

AftertheArtsruniKingSenekerim-Hovhannes,inexchangefordomainsnearthecityofSebastia/Sivas,transferredtheterritoriesofVaspurakantotheByzantineEmperorin1021,aseriesofnon-ArmenianrulerscontrolledtheregionofVan.Eventually,theregionwasincorporatedintotheOttomanEmpireasthevilayetofVan.InthefinalyearsoftheOttomanEmpire,beforetheGenocide,Van,andmorespecificallytheMonasteryofVarak,againbecameasourceofinspiration.ItwasthereatVarakavankthatayoungvartabednamedMgrdichKhrimianpublishedthefirstArmenianperiodicalinthehistoricWesternArmenianprovincesoftheOttomanEmpire,whichhecalledArtsviVaspurakan,“TheEagleofVaspurakan.”Atthemonastery,healsoestablishedtheseminaryofZharangavorats.Khrimian,ofcourse,wentontobecomethePrelateofTaron,thePatriarchofConstantinople,andeventuallytheCatholicosofallArmenians.Universallybeloved,heisknownas“KhrimianHayrig,”anendearinganddiminutiveformof“father.”

RecommendedSource CommentsArmenianVan/Vaspurakan Acollectionofessaysbyprominent

ArmenianStudiesscholarsconcerningtheregionofVan.BasedonaconferenceatUCLA,itisthefirstofaseriesofbooksaboutArmenianregionseditedbyRichardG.Hovannisian.

HistoryoftheHouseoftheArtsrunik‘ RobertThomson’stranslationofThomasArtsruni’stenth-centuryhistoryoftheregionofVanextollingthedominantnoblefamilyofthetime.

Vaspurakan-VaniVank‘ere(TheMonasteriesofVaspurakan/Van)

AsurveyanddescriptionsofmonasteriesandchurchesintheVanregionbytheMkhitaristFatherHamazaspVoskian.InArmenian.

ArtsviVaspurakanwasincrediblyimportantintheformationofanArmenian“provincial”literature,andwasoneofthemostinfluentialpublicationsofthetime.KhrimianfirstpublisheditinIstanbulin1855,thenafterahiatus,beganpublishingattheMonasteryofVaspurakanin1858.Itranuntil1874.OneoftheothermajorcontributorstoArtsviVaspurakanwasadiscipleofKhrimian’s,KarekinSrvandztiants.Srvandztiants,whowashimselfconsecratedabishopin1886andservedforatimeastheprelateofTrabzon,isbestrememberedforfirstwritingdowntheepicDavidofSassoun.Hewasanavidcollectoroffolktalesandfolklore,travellingthroughouthistoricArmenia,bothintheOttomanandRussianprovinces.YoucanreadamoredetailedaccountoftheliteraryandhistoricalimportanceofArtsviVaspurakan,KhrimianHayrig,andKarekinSrvandztiantsinthisarticlebyDzovinarDerderianfortheexcellentonlineresource,houshamadyan.

TheZohrabInformationCenterhasthecollectedworksofbothKhrimianHayrigandBishopSrvandztiants,aswellasfirsteditionsofsomeoftheirbooks.TherearealsomanybooksaboutKhrimianHayrigandhisroleinArmenianhistoryintheZohrabInformationCenter’sLibrary.

CheckouttheZohrabInformationCenter’sInstagramaccount,@zohrabcentertodaytoseerecentphotographsofVarakavanktakenbythedirectorandearlyeditionsoftheworksdescribedinthisarticle!

RecommendedSource CommentsMananay(Manna)

AcollectionofregionalknowledgeaboutVanbyKarekinSrvandztiants,includinghistory,folktales,andsongs.InArmenian.

TrakhtiUndanik(TheFamilyofParadise) “TheFamilyofParadise”isoneofKhrimianHayrig’smostimportanttexts.ItcontainshismusingsontheimportanceoftheArmenianfamily.InArmenian.

ArtsivVaspurakani(KhrimeanHayrig) AcollectionofwritingsaboutKhrimianHayrigbytheauthorRaffi,mostfamousforhisnovelTheFool.OneofmanybooksattheZohrabInformationCenteraboutKhrimian.InArmenian.