Yedi Kilise (Seven Chucrhes) The monastery of Varagavank
Varagavank,near Van in abou 1895 by markartoumayan Most of the buildings have been incorporated into a farmhouse or are
badly decayed. In the 10th century Yedikilise, which also included the
churches of Surb Paulos and Surb Petros, was the seat of the Patriarch
of Moks, accommodated up to 300 monks and is also supposed to have been
in possession of a Relic of the Cross.
The best preserved
building is the cruciform domed Church of St Mary which displays some
fine decorations and 11th century paintings. It was built before the
Armenian king Senekerim exchanged territory with Byzantium. In the 17th
century a square front church with eight shallow domes (frescoes and
decorations) was added, followed by a pillared porch. On the north and
south side, three chapels adjoin the main church.
The monastery of Varagavank, also known as Yedi Kilise ("Seven
Churches"), was formerly the richest and best known monastery of
Vaspurakan, and the residence of the archbishop of Van. The monastery
lay close to the southern slopes of Mt. Varag (now called Erek Dağı),
about 10km south-east of Van city.
King Senekerim-Hovhannes of Vaspurakan is said to have founded the monastery towards the beginning of his reign (1003-1022), but religious buildings existed on the site before that date.
The Holy Cross of Varag
During their journey across Armenia at the end of the 3rd century, the saints Gayane and Hripsime are said to have brought a fragment of the True Cross to Van. When they left Vaspurakan the relic was lost until the 7th century, when it was miraculously found on Varag mountain by a monk and taken to a hermitage that stood on the site of what was to become Varagavank monastery.
King Senekerim enlarged the existing complex into a monastery, to create a more suitable setting for what was the most important religious relic in his kingdom. After he had ceded his kingdom to the Byzantine empire, Senekerim took the relic with him to Sivas, where it was housed in the Armenian monastery of Surp Nishan, just outside the city.
Sometime later, after Senekerims death, it was returned to Varagavank. In 1231, this now deeply venerated relic was taken for safe keeping to Norvaragvank ("New Varag monastery") in north eastern Armenia. At a later period it was returned to Van and was housed in the church known as Surp Nishan, inside the old walled city. It was lost, apparently forever, during the siege and massacres of 1915.
Later History
The monastery flourished during the 17th and 18th centuries, after the wars between the Ottoman and Persian empires had been settled, but declined rapidly during the 19th century. As well as suffering from periodic raids by the Kurdish tribes that afflicted most of eastern Turkey, the monastery was attacked by politically inspired persecutions directed against Armenian organisations by the Turkish authorities. Lake Van was the only region of "Turkish Armenia" where the Armenian population still had numerical superiority over the combined Turkish and Kurdish population; consequently it became the region of greatest repression.
Many European travellers to Van visited Varagavank and left descriptions of the place: click here to read H. F. B. Lynchs account of his visit in 1893. In the early part of the 20th century the German archaeologist Walter Bachman produced a detailed plan of the monasterys layout.
Varagavank was destroyed by the Turkish army on April 30th 1915, during the siege of Van. A Kurdish village, called Bakraçlı, later grew up around the ruins of the surviving churches.
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