Church of Saint Elisæus (Nij)

Saint Elisæus Church (Azerbaijani: Müqəddəs Yelisey kilsəsi, Udi: Ĭvĕl Yeliseyi s'iyen C'otari Gergeś, Armenian: Սուրբ Եղիշե եկեղեցի) or Jotaari Church (Azerbaijani: Cotaari məbədi, after the quarter) is a former Armenian church, now used by Albanian-Udi religious community of Azerbaijan, located on the municipality of Nij in the Qabala region of Azerbaijan.

Church of Saint Elisæus / Yeghishe
Udi: Ĭvĕl Yeliseyi s'iyen C'otari Gergeś
Exterior of the church
Religion
AffiliationAlbanian-Udi religious community of Azerbaijan, formerly Armenian Apostolic Church
RegionQabala
Location
LocationNij, Azerbaijan
Church of Saint Elisæus (Nij) is located in Azerbaijan
Church of Saint Elisæus (Nij)
Shown within Azerbaijan
Geographic coordinates40°56′42″N 47°40′09″E
Architecture
Completed1823
Specifications
Length18.14
Width11.17

History

The church was built in 1823 by a local Udi priest Astvatzatur Jotaniants on the gravesite and chapel of Vlas the Martyr, a disciple of Saint Elysaeus.[1][2] It was repaired in 1879 by locals.[3]

Controversy

It was repaired again in 2004 as part of a project financed by Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise. The destruction during that renovation of Armenian inscriptions associated with the church prompted a protest by Norway's ambassador to Azerbaijan, Steinar Gil,[4] who refused to attend the reopening of the monument and compared the erasing to the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan. The Norwegian Embassy in Baku described the destruction as an "act of vandalism". Three inscriptions on the walls of the church were destroyed, including two on the lintel and tympanum of the south entrance; Armenian inscriptions on the gravestones that surrounded the church were also erased.[5] The destruction of the inscriptions, together with Azerbaijan's labeling of the church as "Albanian" and its denial that the church had an Armenian identity, has been described as being part of a wider "cultural genocide against Armenian monuments in Azerbaijan".[6]

In May 2018, in a report submitted to the UN General Assembly by the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the United Nations, the erasing of the Armenian inscriptions at Nij was cited as evidence that "all restoration work of Christian architectural monuments in Azerbaijan was carried out in such a way as to destroy the traces of Armenian architecture, as well as the Armenian inscriptions".[7]

Priests

The National Archives of Armenia holds several documents pertaining to the priests who once served in church:

  • From 1832 until at least 1857 – Avetik Ohanjanian Jotaniants.[8][9] He was grandson of founder Yengibar Astvatzatur Jotaniants and grave is near southern wall of the church.
  • 1859–1885 – Hovhannes Ter-Astvatzatrian Jotaniants[10]
  • 1879-27.12.1910 – Hambardzum (Hovhannes) Avagian Dallakiants[11]

Nowadays

Formerly a church consecrated according to the Armenian Apostolic rite, the building now serves as main spiritual and cultural center of Nij inhabitants.[12]

References
  1. Yeghiazariants, Vardan (1887). "Some Information on the Uti". Ardzagank. 12: 182.
  2. Bläsing, Uwe; Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (15 May 2020). Cultural, Linguistic and Ethnological Interrelations In and Around Armenia. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-5275-5136-7.
  3. National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 7067 (in Armenian).
  4. "Azeri church sparks political row".
  5. "[hetq.am/en/article/10215 Triumph of Tolerance or Vandalism?]" Hetq.
  6. Azerbaijan - Out of Civilization; Yerevan, 2017. Pages 11, 28,29. and http://www.raa-am.com/raa/pdf_files/174.pdf
  7. Memorandum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh on the state of the historical and cultural monuments in Artsakh and Azerbaijan, page 5/21. https://undocs.org/pdf?symbol=en/A/72/876
  8. National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 12, file 531 (in Armenian).
  9. National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 2596, p. 98 (in Armenian).
  10. National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 7628, p. 1 (in Armenian).
  11. National Archives of Armenia, fund 57, list 3, file 47, pp. 19–20 (in Armenian).
  12. "Udi.az". Albanian-Udi Christian Community of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
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