The 7th century Surb Astvatsatsin church or Targmanchats monastery is located in Aygeshat village of Armavir province. The sacred place of pilgrimage for locals and tourists used to be a centre of education: many valuable manuscripts were copied here. The Church, which locals connect with the name of Mesrop Mashtots, and also call Mesropavank, was considerably damaged because of an earthquake in the 17th century. The monastery has being restored by means of state funds since 2012. There are piles of numbered debris of the church in the surrounding area. About 60 percent of the church stones will be used during the restoration.
Experts believe that this monastery restoration project is exceptional because the builders are dealing with a large, approximately 20 to 30 tonne debris of the building, which are already set. However, the start of the construction works scheduled for this year was delayed: almost nothing has been done in about 2 months, which irritated the Minister of Culture who was in a visit to Aygeshat. Armen Amiryan reproached the representatives of the winning construction company and stated that idleness is a shame.
The construction company representative claimed that they were not idling, but preparing the stones needed for restoration of the church at the factory, and if the weather does not change drastically, they will be able to do the scheduled work. “The reason for the delay is that the stones of the church were being made at the factory, and here we are carrying out preparatory works so that we can bring and put the stones. We will try to manage”, Karen Nazlukhanyan, the construction company representative, told reporters.
Armen Amiryan again expressed doubts that they would not be able to accomplish the work funded with 14 million drams. Representatives of the construction company assured that they would do everything possible.
Luiza SUKIASYAN
