DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27365#0025
7WE AOL'PGPA
13
Mkhargrdzeli^^. In general the translations of the monk-priest Symeon, who
officiated at the iiturgy in the main church at Piindzahank, provide a unique
opportunity to find out more about the spiritual milieu in which the Akhtala paintings
appeared.
Additional information about the history of Piindzahank in the middle of the 13th
century is supplied by epigraphicmonuments connected with the monastery. The
most interesting Armenian inscription is on a R7?Hfc/:kar close to the monastery: "This
cross was erected for the salvation of Avag, during the incumbency of father superiors
Amazasp and Peter, in the year 693 of the Armenian chronology (1244)"-^. All three
names are known to historians. Peter was higumenos of Piindzahank. He built the
Chapel of the Apostles with a large Georgian inscription over the entrance, not far
from the monastery. This inscription also mentions "the patron atabek Avag", Ivane
Mkhargrdzeli 's son who ruled the region in the mid-13th century and favoured
Piindzahank above the other Chalcedonian monasteries^. As Kuirakos Gandzaketsi
and Vardan the Great write, in 1250 Avag "was buried in Piindzahank in the burial
vault of his father Ivane"30. in all probability it was Avag who built the sumptuous
porch of Akhtala's main church, which became the family burial vault of this branch
of the Zakharids.
The strangest figure in the Armenian inscription on the A/fafcMar is the father
superior Amazasp, who was Monophysite bishop of the Haghbat monastery not far
from Akhtala. It is significant that Peter and Amazasp are mentioned together in an
inscription of 1247 from the Armenian monastery of Matosavank, which speaks of
the building of a church "under the blessing of Virgin of Piindzahank"^^. There must
be some special reason for so close a connection between a Chalcedonian and Mono-
physite higumenos. Perhaps it reflects a deliberate policy on the part of Avag to bring
the main monasteries of the two confessions closer together and thereby reduce the
acrimony of the religious disputes in his territories.
In the 14th century the name "Piindzahank" disappears from the historical
sources. In 1438 we find the first mention of the village of Akhtala which had
become the property of the Georgian Church. At the beginning of the 18th century
the monastery was abandoned and the Bishop of Akhtala resided at AtcnP-. In 1801,
on the orders of Russian Emperor Alexander I, the church was restored and turned
into the main religious centre for Greeks living in Transcaucasia. To this day they
assemble there each year on 21 September from all over the country for the festival of
the Nativity of the Virgin.
Akinian, ^yn:eo/; PAnefzaAanAetri, p. 190.
Takaishviii, "The Georgian Inscriptions", p. 142.
For a Russian translation of this inscription, see ibid., pp. 141-142.
30 Kuirakos, p. 198; Pardon, p. 181.
31 Muradian, Georgian P- 206.
32 p. Iosseiiani, Patetye ra/nl'A;', p. 24.
13
Mkhargrdzeli^^. In general the translations of the monk-priest Symeon, who
officiated at the iiturgy in the main church at Piindzahank, provide a unique
opportunity to find out more about the spiritual milieu in which the Akhtala paintings
appeared.
Additional information about the history of Piindzahank in the middle of the 13th
century is supplied by epigraphicmonuments connected with the monastery. The
most interesting Armenian inscription is on a R7?Hfc/:kar close to the monastery: "This
cross was erected for the salvation of Avag, during the incumbency of father superiors
Amazasp and Peter, in the year 693 of the Armenian chronology (1244)"-^. All three
names are known to historians. Peter was higumenos of Piindzahank. He built the
Chapel of the Apostles with a large Georgian inscription over the entrance, not far
from the monastery. This inscription also mentions "the patron atabek Avag", Ivane
Mkhargrdzeli 's son who ruled the region in the mid-13th century and favoured
Piindzahank above the other Chalcedonian monasteries^. As Kuirakos Gandzaketsi
and Vardan the Great write, in 1250 Avag "was buried in Piindzahank in the burial
vault of his father Ivane"30. in all probability it was Avag who built the sumptuous
porch of Akhtala's main church, which became the family burial vault of this branch
of the Zakharids.
The strangest figure in the Armenian inscription on the A/fafcMar is the father
superior Amazasp, who was Monophysite bishop of the Haghbat monastery not far
from Akhtala. It is significant that Peter and Amazasp are mentioned together in an
inscription of 1247 from the Armenian monastery of Matosavank, which speaks of
the building of a church "under the blessing of Virgin of Piindzahank"^^. There must
be some special reason for so close a connection between a Chalcedonian and Mono-
physite higumenos. Perhaps it reflects a deliberate policy on the part of Avag to bring
the main monasteries of the two confessions closer together and thereby reduce the
acrimony of the religious disputes in his territories.
In the 14th century the name "Piindzahank" disappears from the historical
sources. In 1438 we find the first mention of the village of Akhtala which had
become the property of the Georgian Church. At the beginning of the 18th century
the monastery was abandoned and the Bishop of Akhtala resided at AtcnP-. In 1801,
on the orders of Russian Emperor Alexander I, the church was restored and turned
into the main religious centre for Greeks living in Transcaucasia. To this day they
assemble there each year on 21 September from all over the country for the festival of
the Nativity of the Virgin.
Akinian, ^yn:eo/; PAnefzaAanAetri, p. 190.
Takaishviii, "The Georgian Inscriptions", p. 142.
For a Russian translation of this inscription, see ibid., pp. 141-142.
30 Kuirakos, p. 198; Pardon, p. 181.
31 Muradian, Georgian P- 206.
32 p. Iosseiiani, Patetye ra/nl'A;', p. 24.