SOURP MAGAR GREETS 200 GIBRAHAYER PILGRIMS AFTER 33 YEARS IN CAPTIVITY
Gibrahayer - Nicosia May 9, 2007
The pilgrimage to the Turkish occupied
Armenian Monastery of Sourp Magar, organised by the Armenian MP Vartkes
Mahdessian's office and The Armenian Prelature of Cyprus took place last Sunday 6th
of May, 2007 with the participation of more than 200 community members -
most of whom were visiting the Armenian Monastery for the first time in 33
years.
Going through memory lane participants remembered similar days, decades ago
when the community would gather for the annual Harissa, when Sundays would
turn to a community happening and when the land of Cilicia would be visible by
the naked eye especially during winter, when snow would cover the Taurus
mountain on the opposite shore only 40 miles away.
Sourp Magar Monastery is a very different place now.
Destroyed and abandoned, it greeted the 200 pilgrims with its empty walls,
empty floors and empty ceilings.
The warmest welcome perhaps came from the current administrator of the
Monastery - Ahmed and his father - who run the canteen and have been granted a
"lease" for the monastery for 49 years.
"We were against the decision of turning the Monastery to a hotel, but we
would like the Monastery to be restored somehow. We respect Christians and we
would like to see the cross on Sourp Magar some day", young Ahmed said in
perfect English.
The pilgrims explored every corner of what once was a very lively place
while its abandoned and destroyed walls, evoked emotions and images of the past.
Ahmed and his family hope to see the Monastery restored. Community members
were quick to suggest that any renovation, alteration or restoration by
UNESCO, or any other international body, should be done with the approval of the
owner of the Monastery, who is the Armenian Church of Cyprus.
One thing is apparent however, that whether we have a political solution to
the Cyprus problem or not, and whether the borders are eventually opened or
not, we quickly need to address the initial vandalism and eventual destruction
by natural causes through neglect, of the Armenian Monastery of Sourp Magar.
As one of the pilgrims architect John Guevherian was heard evaluating, it is
only a matter of time that the already existing structures and walls will be
unable to sustain another blow of extreme weather. Who knows when this will
be? Most likely it will be before the political settlement of the Cyprus
problem.
That is why we all need to address the restoration of Magaravank, in a
carefully thought-out process that will not upset the delicate political balances
and restore a religious site with immense historical and architectural value,
belonging to the Armenian Church of Cyprus.
Perhaps the restoration of Apostolos Andreas Monastery in the Karpass
peninsula and the Aghtamar Church in Van in historic Armenia, should serve as
examples of how we should engineer the campaign for the restoration of Sourp Magar.
Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.aynedjian/SourpMagarPiligrimage
