Armenian Medieval Architecture along Boundary Akhurian River. French Researches in Turkey and Armenia

DOI

10.2991/icassee-17.2018.29How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Armenian medieval architecture; Shirak district; Ani; Akhurian River; French archaeologic team

Abstract

The Shirak district, part of the province of Ayrarat, since the 8th century is the domain of the Bagratides, a noble family of Armenia, which rose to power after the Arab domination over the region. The first 'Golden Age' of Ani is interrupted when the armies of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX capture the city in 1045. In spite of these conflicts, the territory remains prosperous and flourishing during the 12th and 13th centuries. Then, the decline of commerce in the region, together with the development of conflicts, leads to the gradual abandonment of the city. In 1921, the treaty of Kars defines the Akhurian River as the new border between Turkey and the Soviet Empire, thus splitting the ancient province in half. The goal of this brief article is to explain how the possibility given through about 15 years to a French archaeological team, including historians, archaeologists and architects, to work in the different parts of the ancient Shirak Region, torn apart by modern history, has made possible to rise new questions and to sketch new interpretations of his ancient history, based on the study of less considered or almost forgotten monuments, along the boundary river. This work focused on the results of investigation of several fortified sites and ruined churches in the Akhurian valley, Dashtadem and Aruch, and it has been the occasion for new collaboration with Armenian scholars.

Copyright

© 2018, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Philippe Dangles
PY  - 2017/12
DA  - 2017/12
TI  - Armenian Medieval Architecture along Boundary Akhurian River. French Researches in Turkey and Armenia
BT  - Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Art Studies: Science, Experience, Education (ICASSEE 2017)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 136
EP  - 139
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/icassee-17.2018.29
DO  - 10.2991/icassee-17.2018.29
ID  - Dangles2017/12
ER  -