In the framework of the events dedicated to the 1050th anniversary of declaring Ani the capital, a trilingual (Armenian, Russian, English) book-album called Ani was published. As famous monument expert Samvel Karapetyan, the head of the Research on Armenian Architecture (RAA) NGO, informed during a meeting with journalists today, the book, the print run of which is 900 copies, has one supplement with Ani’s map on it, prepared by architect Ashot Hakobyan. The Sections are divided, according to the type of the monuments – defense, palatial, residential, producing, religious, monumental and underground engraved constructions. As Mr. Karapetyan mentioned, there have been publications about Ani in the past too. In the period between 1892 and 1911, as a result of Nikoghayos Mar’s researches, a few annals were published; a few other books were published in 2001. “This book stands out with the structure of its material – the existing and newly-revealed data about every monument have been summarized. We used part of Toros Toramanyan’s photos. We referred to the constructions, about which no one has spoken before,” said the spokesperson and added that part of the monuments are published in the former shape, as a result of digital restoration, “It was Pargev Frankyan’s project, as a result of which 7 monuments have been digitally restored, for example, Bekhents or Kusanats (virgins) monasteries in 3D modeling.” According to the monument expert, the book containing around 600 photos is intended mainly for scientific circles. Talking about the architectural significance of Ani, Samvel Karapetyan said that Ani represented all the genius architectural ideas of Armenians in the international architecture, “For example, the domes of the Hovvi (shepherd) monasteries cross in the air. Ani was an architectural pearl and had trade ties with the whole world. The chandelier of the Holy See was brought from India…”
Talking about the new churches being built in Armenia, the spokesperson said that he would rather see constructions like old churches. “For example, there is a church built in Hrazdan, in accordance with the model of the Hovvi (shepherd) Church in Ani. I welcome the construction industry development, but it is not right to focus only on Yerevan,” said the monument expert.
During a conversation with Aravot, he said that the information that there had been an underground stronghold almost by the size of Ani’s map was an exaggeration.
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Louise SUKIASYAN
