Akhtamar Church (the Church of the Holy Cross), a medieval Armenian church in Turkey’s eastern Van province draws the interest of foreign and domestic visitors, Anadolu Agency said in an article about Akhtamar.
The church, located on Akhtamar Island, also known as Akdamar, Aghtamar and Ahtamar, in Lake Van, was built between 915 and 921 A.D. by architect Bishop Manuel, under the supervision of Gagik I Ardzruni, an Armenian king.
It was included in the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage on April 13, 2015.
“Akhtamar Church represents a unique accomplishment in Christian architecture, displaying for the first time sculpted imagery on the exterior of a church in such an elaborate profusion,” the UNESCO website said.
Muzaffer Aktug, Van provincial director of culture and tourism, told Anadolu Agency that the church deserved to be included in the permanent list of UNESCO.
“Around 83,000 people visited the island in the first seven months of this year,” Aktug said.
He added that efforts were underway to get the church on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
Akhtamar Church, which was opened as a monument museum in 2007 after being restored for two years with a 4-billion-lira (around $3 billion in 2005) budget allocated for the project.
The church has been hosting annual religious ceremonies organized by the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul once a year since 2010.
The first Divine Liturgy was served in the church on 19 September 2010 after 95 years of break. However, the failure of Turkish authorities to place a cross atop the church before the service sparked protests by Armenians all over the world. Eventually, a cross was hoisted on the dome of Akhtamar Church on 30 September.