The Livingston County News, NY
Nov 11 2012
Visiting the world’s greatest churches
November 11, 2012 by Bill Cook
Last week, I wrote about my recent adventures in Uzbekistan. Although
I am thinking some day of doing a lecture series called something like
`The Greatest Religious Buildings in the World’ and might include some
things I photographed in Afghanistan, I was largely there simply for
the experience.
However for nine days after leaving Uzbekistan, I was hard at work
researching and photographing ancient Christian churches in the
nations of Armenia and Georgia, tucked into an area called the
Caucasus, roughly the area between the Black and Caspian Seas.
I have signed a contract to do a 24-lecture course for The Teaching
Company called something like `The World’s Greatest Churches.’ I want
to include buildings from all parts of the world and from early
Christian buildings to modern places of worship.
Armenia has a credible claim to be the first Christian nation since
Christianity was established there in 301, a few years before it was
accepted in the Roman Empire. Georgia too traces its Christianity back
to the fourth century.
I knew that there were many extraordinary and ancient churches in
these two nations, so I set off to examine and photograph the most
famous of them. These are primarily monastic churches, and monks like
to build their monasteries away from a busy world. I can testify that
in Armenia and Georgia, they outdid themselves.
Before I explain what it is like hunting down monasteries in the
Caucasus, let me point out that both Armenia and Georgia have one
important thing in common with Uzbekistan. All were parts of the
Soviet Union and have been independent countries for only about 20
years.
This means that the capitals of these three former Soviet republics
have similar wide boulevards and huge public buildings. They also have
ugly factories that pollute and apartment buildings that appear
literally to be falling to pieces.
I stayed in one in Georgia when there was no hotel. I will never
forget how jerry-rigged the bathroom was. It will forever be a
metaphor for how people made do during the Soviet era.
Back to hunting for monasteries in Armenia and Georgia. I rented
four-wheel drive vehicles in each country; otherwise most of the
ancient monasteries I sought out would have been inaccessible.
Roads are not good, and there are no bypasses around these nations’
capitals, Yerevan (Armenia) and Tbilish (Georgia). Let’s just say I
had some urban nightmares and that I was pulled over by the police one
time in each capital. My pathetic confusion worked wonders in avoiding
penalties for my traffic misdeeds.
In both nations, the most spectacular aspect of their ancient churches
is their location. Most are at the edge of great cliffs or perched on
impossibly steep peaks. Others are nestled in remote and narrow
valleys.
When the Armenian and Georgian monks built monasteries to escape the
hubbub of the world, they knew what they were doing. Both
architectural traditions consist of small churches in terms of square
footage with high central domes that soar toward heaven.
Armenian churches have sparse decorations, primarily relief sculpture
on the exteriors of their churches. In addition to sculpture, many of
the Georgian churches are painted inside.
Of course the style is quite different from what we find in western
Europe; rather it is more akin to, though distinct from, the art that
we associate with the Orthodox traditions.
While it is relatively easy to recognize biblical stories, the saints
of Georgia were largely unknown to me. I got to know Saint David, a
martyr/king of Georgia and St Nino, a Christian slave woman who was
chiefly responsible for the conversion of Georgia 17 centuries ago.
In a remote Georgian monastery in a canyon, I met a 20-year-old monk
with a ponytail who to my surprise spoke English. After he described
quite beautifully the 12th-century decorations of his church, I asked
where he learned English.
`Oh,’ he responded, `I studied for awhile at Baruch College in New
York and lived in Bensonhurst,’ a part of Brooklyn. He was even
something of a New York Yankees fan, though neither of us knew at the
time that they had just been ignominiously swept by the Detroit
Tigers!
There were not many restaurants outside the cities, so I largely made
do with fruit and bread and some meat bought in what we would call mom
and pop grocery stores. I did a lot of acting out of what I wanted
because very few people spoke English.
For obvious reasons, Russian was the second language. And since the
Armenians and Georgians each have a distinctive alphabet, it was hard
to decode a single word of signs and labels.
The oddest sight I visited on the road was in Gori, Georgia, which
happens to be the birthplace of Joseph Stalin. The city is proud of
its most famous son, and his childhood home is now preserved in
something resembling a classical temple. Go figure.
Armenia and Georgia are lovely and beautiful countries with kind
people and spectacular scenery, even genuine cowboys in Armenia, and
monuments. Travel is not easy, but the rewards are great.
Churches in Armenia and Georgia will indeed be featured in my `The
World’s Greatest Churches’ lectures.
http://thelcn.com/2012/11/11/visiting-the-worlds-greatest-churches/