Karvajar (Kalbajar) province

TZAR AND THE VICINITY

    "God blessed stronghold of Tzar" this is how the medieval authors named this fortified princely residence of the province. It is situated in the upper stream of the river Trtu, on the higher elevation of a triangular plateau formed by the confluence of the Trtu and its tributary Tzaraget, 2030-2050 m above the sea. The plateau is isolated by deep gorges, and is 300-310 m higher than the bank of the Trtu flowing on the eastern and southeastern sides of the town, and 120-130 m higher than the bank of the Tzaraget streaming on the north. The only unprotected part is the narrow strip of land connecting the southwestern angle of the plateau with the mountain range. This section, approximately 250 m long, was fortified since the antiquity, owing to which Tzar and the surrounding plateau might, in the case of necessity, be turned into an invincible fortress.
    Tzar was mentioned in historical records since the Middle Ages. Although the region or the Tzar province is recorded much more frequently than the town Tzar (as, for instance, by Stepanos Orbelian), there is a reason to believe that the province should have been named after the administrative centre of the whole region, being the residential of princes or later meliks. Thus we may assume that the fortress of Tzar existed at least as long as the province.
    "The village, which is called Tzar" was first mentioned in 1289. It is noteworthy that in spite of the fact that there was no other settlement with the identical name, the cadastre of Dadi Vank, dated 1763, mentioned it as "Metzn Great Tzar".

**Tzar.** The churches of Surb Sarkis seen from northeast and Surb Grigor from the north.

Tzar was really large even being devastated. Four churches, cemeteries with numerous khachkars, and two monasteries nearby prove that once it had been a densely populated town. After the withdrawal of Armenian population from the town, numerous pieces of culture were left without care. The place was occupied by nomadic tribe Parakhkanlu, that initially merely used (or accommodated) the structures inherited from the former Christian population. Disastrous destruction began when they passed to the settled mode of life. Visiting Tzar in 1880 Archbishop Makar stated that there were many tombs and khachkars at the outskirts of the village, but the "Kurds have partly broken them, partly erased the inscriptions". The destruction of Armenian monuments continued even on the larger scale upon the establishment of the Soviet power, and especially in the period between 1940-50. Two of four churches inside the village, alongside with both monasteries situated nearby, and old cemeteries were totally destroyed during that decade. The stone was reused while building schools or other public structures in Tzar and Chragh.
The cathedral, or the Large Temple, situated in the centre of the village, very close (from the north) to Surb Sarkis (St.Serrgius) church, is still preserved. Presumably, it was a vast (external dimensions 26.10x11.55 m) vaulted basilica.

Tzar. Khachakar found 60 m north of Surb Grigor (XIV Cent).

    The vault had collapsed at the end of the past century already, but the walls were still standing, and the inscription carved on the lower part of the khachkar fastened into the southern entrance.
    The church of Surb Grigor (St.Gregory the Illuminator) was also preserved. It was a single nave vaulted basilica, built of finely processed stone in 1274 (external dimensions are 6.38x4.40 m). There were obvious traces of later renovation made by coarse stone in the XVIIcent.
    Before the liberation of the area, a Kurdish family used this church as the supplemental pan of their house. They plastered the western and southern facades of the church and annexed other outhouses.

The inscriptions on the church were first published by bishop Barkhutariants. The only tympanum of the western facade contained an inscription of five lines.

    The chapel of Surb Sargis was built in the same year 1274 and destroyed m the forties of the current century. In conformity with the descriptions it was a single nave-vaulted basilica (external dimensions: 7.15x4.75 m).
    The end of this inscription made on the processed stone (50x25 cm) was fastened into the northwestern corner of the school constructed in the fifties.
    Besides, there is an inscribed fragment of a khachkar (68x21cm) built into the window casing in the western wall of the same school.
    The church was surrounded by an old cemetery, now totally demolished. At the end of the past century there were several finely carved khachkars described by the visitors. One of them, situated to the south of the entrance had the inscription carved on the stairs of the pedestal.

Tzar. Fragmented Khachkar ornamented with bird relieves (XIII cent.).

    This large khachkar containing (the most relevant information is now totally destroyed. Only a small fragment (24x19 cm), also fastened into the window casing of the same school is preserved. There were only four letters left.
    Another khachkar of no lesser historical or artistic value was also destroyed. Its upper part represent the sculpture of the Holy Virgin with infant Jesus Christ on her lap. The holy scene was surrounded by goat-like animals. Holy Spirit, the Sun and a bird - in the lower part of the cross."
    Two small fragments (50x31 and 41x18 cm) of this cross were fastened into the walls of the same school. Each of the fragments contained only three lines and separate letters. Judging from the fragments preserved, the inscription consisted of many lines and covered the whole rib of the khachkar.
    In conformity with Barkhuiariants, a few steps to the west of the cross erected by the princess Mamkan, there was another khachkar with the inscription.
    We discovered three fragments of this inscription within the walls of the school.

**Tzar.** Fragmented khachkars, tombstones and inscriptions reused in the masonry of the school built in 1950-ies.

    Altogether the fragments contained 12 lines. It is obvious this inscription was also carved on the entire narrow rib of the cross and consisted of many short lines.
    The fourth church of Tzar was also called Surb Sarkis.
    Owing to the renovation conducted in the XVII cent., it was totally preserved. Obvious traces of were visible on the upper parts of facades. In conformity with the defective inscription, carved on the only entrance in the western facade this church was constructed in 1279.


	Tzar. A low relief fragment reused in the masonry of the school. Khachkar west of the school. Surb Grigor church seen from west. Inscribed capitol and pillar of the house with hipped roof.

    The walls of Surb Sarkis bear 7 additional epigraphic inscriptions, mostly votive, dated between 1285 and 1311. The church was a vaulted -single-nave basilica with external dimensions 6.70x4.60-m. Not much has been preserved of the cemetery surrounding the church. Particularly, an inscribed tombstone adorned with crosses was put as a base stone (dimensions: 105x85 cm) into the prop-wall of a residential house situated in the southern side of the church. Its ornaments and palaeography were characteristic of the XVIIcent.
    Not far to the east, at the entrance of an old house there was an inscribed khachkar, characteristic of the XIII cent. It was fragmented to two pieces and ornamented with beautiful bird-relieves.
    Of exceptional interest was the house with a ripped roof {hazarashen) built by some Avanes in 1658. Four of its columns were built of stone, instead of commonly used timber.
    In the XIX cent. the population of Jraberd still believed that this was a "royal palace".
    As soon as Tzar was the princely headquarters of the province, there certainly, should have been palaces, or aparanks, houses of late medieval meliks. The house with hipped roof (hazarashen) might, perhaps, be a melik's residential. Due to severe climatic conditions of the region, it lacked architectural details characteristic of other princely houses (vault, second floor, wooden balconies, etc.). It is quite modest, the vault is replaced by traditional hipped roof (hazarashen), common for this region, but it is much larger than other houses and wooden columns are substituted by stone ones.
     Tzar was also the centre of literature. The Sermon book (Karozcharan) kept in Matenadaran as item N 2067 was written in 1684 in Tzar by scribe Varvare, and illustrated by Father Barsegh for Petros Preceptor.
    As other settlements in the province Tzar was deserted in the second quarter of the XVIII cent.
    In the middle of the XVIIIcent. the Kurdish tribe Parakhkanli (Farikean) occupied Tzar, but it took them almost 100 years to settle there constantly.
    The Soviet period was first of all symbolised by the process of deliberate and mass destruction of the local Armenian culture. Besides churches and cemeteries inside the village two monastery complexes situated a little below in the gorge under the rocks in the southern and northwestern outskirts of the village were also totally destroyed. The first of them was the famous Getamijo Surb Astvatzatzin (Holy Virgin of the Confluence) monastery, founded in 1301. Turning them to quarries, the Kurds built rather a large school in the centre of the village, using the khachkars, tombstones and inscriptions merely as a building material for the project. We have registered 133 fragments, within the walls of that school, of which 37 are inscribed.161 As for Getamijo Vank-its stones were mainly delivered to the nearby village Chragh, for the construction of another school. Besides numerous fragments of crosses and relieves found, here upon removing the plaster, we discovered 22 inscribed fragments of the large building inscription which enabled us to interpret the original inscription anew.
    A few strict and simple khachkars are still preserved in the vicinity of the village.
    During the Soviet period another small Kurdish village called Vank, grew up at the place once occupied by Getamijo Surb Astvatzatzin monastery. Many of its cattle sheds and houses are built of processed monastery stones and crudely broken khachkar fragments.
    A processed facing stone, fastened into the wall masonry still preserved three simple crosses and a few words which remained of the votive inscription.

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