ONLY THE GOVERNMENT CAN HALT DEFILEMENT OF GANDZASAR MONASTERY WALLS
Sona Avagyan
13:17, December 7, 2012
To halt the ongoing fiasco regarding the face tiling of the historic
wall surrounding the Gandzasar Monasetry in Artsakh, Manoushak
Titanyan, Secretary of the Association of Architects and Restorers of
Historical Monuments and a member of the RA Association of Architects,
says it’s up to the government and no one else.
The retiling of the walls of the 13th century monastery in the village
of Vank started up again in earnest two weeks ago. The work is being
financed by Russian-Armenian businessman Levon Hayrapetyan.
The work on the walls began back in the summer of 2011 and was widely
covered in the Armenian press and social internet sites. Most opposed
what Hayrapetyan was doing to the historic landmark.
After the uproar, the Artsakh Department of Tourism and the RA Ministry
of Culture put a stop to the work.
Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan personally visited the monastery on
July 7, 2011, accompanied by Artsakh Primate Barkev Martirosyan.
A few days later, Samvel Karapetyan, who heads the Research on Armenian
Architecture NGO, stated that “~SIgnorant patriotism” is what leads
people to harm historic monuments.”
On July 15, 2011, Chairman of the Association of Architects and
Restorers of Historical Monuments Gagik Soghomonyan declared that
the tiles would be removed.
Evidently, Levon Hayrapetyan never heard the news.
Manoushak Titanyan believes it’s pointless to take Hayrapetyan to
court because no one in government, whether Armenia or Artsakh,
dare oppose him.