Tekor Basilica

Church of Saint Sarkis, Tekor
Tekor Basilica in an engraving from the 1840s
Basic information
Location Turkey Digor, Turkey
Geographic coordinates 40°22′17″N 43°24′53″E / 40.371389°N 43.414722°E / 40.371389; 43.414722Coordinates: 40°22′17″N 43°24′53″E / 40.371389°N 43.414722°E / 40.371389; 43.414722
Affiliation Armenian Apostolic Church
Status completely destroyed by local Turkish municipality
Architectural description
Architectural style Armenian
Groundbreaking 5th century
Completed 10th century

The Church of Saint Sarkis in Tekor (also known as the Tekor Basilica) was a 5th-century Armenian church built in historical Armenia.[1] It was located facing the town of Digor in the Kars Province of Turkey, about 16 kilometers west of the Armenian border. Tekor was a three aisled basilica with a dome. It was severely damaged by earthquakes in 1912 and 1936, and later damaged by vandalism. Now only the lower parts of the rubble and concrete core of the walls remain, the facing stone apparently removed to build the town hall (now itself demolished) in the 1960s. The inscription dating the building to the 480s was the oldest known writing in the Armenian language.[2]

Architectural significance

The Basilica of Saint Sarkis is significant in Armenian architectural history because its stone dome was among the earliest to be constructed in Armenia. Until its destruction, Tekor was the oldest extant domed church in Armenia.[3]

See also

  • Yererouk, a contemporaneous 4th-5th century Armenian basilica about 18 kilometres northwest of Digor, in Armenia.

References

  1. ↑ Edwards, Robert W., "Tekor" (2016). The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology, ed., Paul Corby Finney. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 572–573. ISBN 978-0-8028-9017-7.
  2. ↑ THE TEKOR BASILICA at VirtualAni.org
  3. ↑ Kouymjian, Dickran. "Index of Armenian Art: Armenian Architecture - Tekor: St. Sarkiss". Armenian Studies Program. California State University, Fresno. Archived from the original on 2008-06-20.

Bibliography

  • Armen, Garbis (1992), An Architecture of Survival, ISBN 0-9695988-0-7
  • Տեկորի տաճարը, Թորոս Թօրամանեան, Թիֆլիս, 1911։
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