Varzahan ( hy, Վարզահան վանք, tr, Uğrak Kiliseleri or ''Varzahan Kiliseleri''), was an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
church founded in the 12th century near village
Uğrak (formerly Varzahan), 10 km northwest of
Bayburt
Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River and is the provincial capital of Bayburt Province. According to the 2021 census the population is determined as around 82,274.
Bayburt was once an important center on the ancient ...
, in eastern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
History
Situated in a settlement called Varzahan in
Upper Armenia
Upper Armenia ( hy, Բարձր Հայք ''Bardzr Hayq'') was the first province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, located in present-day Turkey, roughly corresponding to the modern province of Erzincan, to the west of the Kura River. Within th ...
province of
Historical Armenia's northern part. Varzahan was a large Armenian settlement in a 5.7 miles northwest to the Baberd city (now
Bayburt
Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River and is the provincial capital of Bayburt Province. According to the 2021 census the population is determined as around 82,274.
Bayburt was once an important center on the ancient ...
) of a northernmost district of
Upper Armenia
Upper Armenia ( hy, Բարձր Հայք ''Bardzr Hayq'') was the first province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, located in present-day Turkey, roughly corresponding to the modern province of Erzincan, to the west of the Kura River. Within th ...
called
Sper. Most of its population was massacred by Turks during the 18th century. The monastery was damaged in the same period.
The archaeologist
Austin Henry Layard
Sir Austen Henry Layard (; 5 March 18175 July 1894) was an English Assyriologist, traveller, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, politician and diplomat. He was born to a mostly English family in Paris and largely raised in It ...
has described this place in 1849 while travelling from
Trebizond to
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...
. Austin Henry Layard said:
''---The only place of any interest, passed during our ride, was a small Armenian village, the remains of a larger, with the ruins of three early Christian churches, or Baptisteries.---''
Gallery
File:Varzahan village Lynch's 1898.jpg, Lynch's 1898 photograph of the graveyard.
File:Varvahan.jpg, A drawing of one of the churches.
Ruines d'eglise Georgienes
File:Théophile Deyrolle Le Tour du Monde 1875-81.jpg, Théophile Deyrolle
Théophile-Louis Deyrolle (16 December 1844, Paris - 14 December 1923, Concarneau) was a French painter, illustrator and ceramicist.
Biography
He came from a family of entomologists and naturalists who owned a well-known taxidermy shop in Pa ...
"Ruines d'eglise Georgienes".
File:Théophile Deyrolle Le Tour du Monde 1875-82.jpg, Théophile Deyrolle
Théophile-Louis Deyrolle (16 December 1844, Paris - 14 December 1923, Concarneau) was a French painter, illustrator and ceramicist.
Biography
He came from a family of entomologists and naturalists who owned a well-known taxidermy shop in Pa ...
"Ruines d'eglise Georgienes".
File:Théophile Deyrolle Le Tour du Monde 1875-83.jpg, Théophile Deyrolle
Théophile-Louis Deyrolle (16 December 1844, Paris - 14 December 1923, Concarneau) was a French painter, illustrator and ceramicist.
Biography
He came from a family of entomologists and naturalists who owned a well-known taxidermy shop in Pa ...
"Eglise Georgiene".
See also
*
Bayburt
Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River and is the provincial capital of Bayburt Province. According to the 2021 census the population is determined as around 82,274.
Bayburt was once an important center on the ancient ...
References
External links
THE CHURCH OF VARZAHANat ''Virtual Ani''
{{Armenian Churches
Destroyed Armenian monasteries in Turkey
Oriental Orthodox congregations established in the 12th century
Christian monasteries established in the 12th century
20th-century disestablishments in Turkey
Buildings and structures demolished in the 20th century
Christian monasteries disestablished in the 20th century