Saint Thomas Monastery of Agulis ( hy, Ագուլիսի Սուրբ Թովմա առաքյալ վանք) was an Armenian Apostolic monastery, located in the

Yuxarı Əylis Yuxarı Əylis ( hy, Վերին Ագուլիս, lit=Upper Agulis, translit=Verin Agulis) is a village and municipality in the Ordubad District of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. It is located in the left and right sides of the Ordubad-Aylis highway, 12&nb ...

village of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

. It was historically built in the

Goghtn Goght'n ( hy, Գողթն; also mentioned in sources as Goght'an, Գողթան, and spelled Gołt'n by modern scholars) was a canton (''gavaṛ'') located in the province of Vaspurakan in historical Armenia. Its borders roughly corresponded to the m ...

district of the historical Armenian province of

Vaspurakan Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...

History

According to tradition, St. Thomas Monastery was founded by St. Bartholomew the Apostle in the 1st century, and his pupil, Kums ( hy), was appointed its priest. It was probably a small chapel-like building that was rebuilt and expanded after the conversion of Armenia to Christianity. It was the centre of Goghtn parish, from the early Middle Ages to 1838. In the monastery there were some relics: right hand of

Thomas the Apostle Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...

donated by Catholicos Yeprem I in 1821, relic of St. Gayané ( fr) and right hand of Hakop Hayrapet. The monastery had a cemetery belonging to the 13th to 19th centuries. It was located about 250 m northeast of the complex.

Architecture

St. Thomas Monastery consisted of a temple, bell towers, a wall and auxiliary buildings. The church of the monastery was probably damaged by the earthquake of 1679 and in 1694 a completely new church was built, with polished basalt, reddish

felsite Felsite is a very fine-grained volcanic rock that may or may not contain larger crystals. Felsite is a field term for a light-colored rock that typically requires petrographic examination or chemical analysis for more precise definition. Color ...

, a seven-sided tabernacle on the inside and a dome-shaped basilica with four crosses.

Current status

In 1919, Turkish troops destroyed Agulis, massacred the Armenian population and looted the monastery, which was later abandoned and deserted. The monastery was still standing in the 1990s. Large structures in the monastery were in the process of being dismantled on February 2000. The complete destruction and erasure of the monastery was already complete by June 28, 2009. On May 15, 2014, a mosque was constructed on the place of the monastery complex.

References

Sources

* Հակոբյան Թ. Խ., Մելիք-Բախշյան Ստ. Տ., Բարսեղյան Հ. Խ., Հայաստանի և հարակից շրջանների տեղանունների բառարան, հ. 1 �-Կ(խմբ. Մանուկյան Լ. Գ.), Երևան, «Երևանի Համալսարանի Հրատարակչություն», 1986, էջ 27 — 1008 էջ։ * Ստեփան Մելիք-Բախշյան, Հայոց պաշտամունքային վայրեր, Երևան, «ԵՊՀ հրատարակչություն», 2009 — 6, էջեր 6 — 432 + 10 էջ ներդիր էջ. — 500 հատ։ * Ղևոնդ Ալիշան, Սիսական, էջ 326 * Հ. Շահխաթունեանց, Ստորագրություն, էջ 325 * Ե. Լալայան, Գողթն, էջ 69 * Մ. Փափազյան. Հնութիւնք Հայրենեաց, Դ., Թ. էջ 287 * Արգամ Այվազյան, Նախիջևանի ԻՍՍՀ հայկական հուշարձանները։ Համահավաք ցուցակ (խմբ. խմբ. Բ. Ա. Ուլուբաբյան), Երևան, «Հայաստան», 1986 — 21, էջեր 21 — 224 էջ։

External links