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The Church of Kish (Template:Lang-az) is located in the village of Kish approximately 5km north from Shaki, Azerbaijan and considered to be one of the centres of Albanian-Udi Christian community in Azerbaijan.

History

A medieval tradition, first set down in writing by Movses Kagankatvatsi in his "History of the Country of Aluank" says that the apostle St. Yegishe, a disciple of Thaddeus of Edessa, was martyred at a place called Gis. Kagankatvatsi wrote that in the 7th century …pious Vachagan, the king of Albania, erected a pillar over the dungeon of Yeghishe's martyrdom. Based on the similarity of the names, the location of Gis has been identified as present-day Kish by some commentators. However, because the geographical position of Kish does not seem to match that described by Kagankatvatsi, other commentators have dismissed that theory and have identified Gis as the village of Bomen / Bum 60km to the southeast of Kish, in Kutkashen district, Uti (Utik) province.

In the 12th century the inhabitants of Kish were Chalcedonian Christians who adhered to the Georgian Church. At that time the church was part of a monastery and was known as the Sourb Astvatzatzin Church. In later centuries it became known as St. Yeghishe the Apostle's Monastery, and continued to function until the 17th century. Kish's Christian population was forced to convert to Islam in the 1720s. After Russia took possession of this region as a result of the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan, many villagers renounced Islam and returned to their Christian faith, though the majority of the population remained Muslim. The Christians appear to have, in public anyway, identified themselves as being ethnically Armenian. The church was re-consecrated (sometime before 1839, when the sanctuary is mentioned in connection with a robbery of its church objects). In 1836 all active churches in this region that were not Georgian or Russian were incorporated into the Armenian Apostolic Church. The monastery had been re-founded by the 1860s, and quickly became an active place of pilgrimage because of its believed connection with St. Yegishe.

Media in Azerbaijan represents the Kish church as the first church built in Caucasian Albania and also the first church built in the Caucasus.

Research and dating

In 2000-2003 the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded a joint project between Baku State University for Architecture and Construction and the Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise for archeological research and restoration of the church of Kish. Dr. Vilayat Karimov of Baku's Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography served as the Director of Excavations, and the Archaeological Advisor for the project was J. Bjørnar Storfjell, who currently directs the Thor Heyerdahl Research Centre in Aylesbury, England. Radiocarbon analysis of various objects found on the site showed that the cultic site found beneath the altar of the church dates to about 3000 B.C., while the construction of the existing church building dates to about the 12th century (990-1160 A.D.).

The existing church building cannot be dated to the times of St. Elishe, but the archeological evidence demonstrates that the church is located on an ancient cultic site. It is very unlikely that St. Elishe built in Kish a church in the modern understanding of this word. Even if the person did exist, it appears likely that he built only the altar or used an existing pagan cult structure.

References

1. Ortodox in Azerbaijan
2. Moses Kalankatuatsi. History of Albania.
3. >Kartapetian, Samvel (2001). Armenian Cultural Monuments in the region of Karabagh. Yerevan: RAA. p. 79. ISBN 5-8080-0468-3.
4. ^ Official website of Baku eparchy of Russian Orthodox Church. Architectural heritage of Caucasian Albania.
7. Interview with Russian Ortodox Baku and Caspian Bishop Alexander
8. Moses Kalankatuatsi. History of Albania. Book 2, Chapter XLVIII
9. Azerbaijan International Magazine. About the Kish Church Reconstruction Project

See also

• Udi people
• Caucasian Albania

External links

• Photo of Church
• Research on Armenian Architecture: Kish village, Shaki District, Republic of Azerbaijan
• The Kish Church

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