Norashen Church, Tbilisi

For other uses, see Norashen (disambiguation).

Norashen Surb Astvatsatsin Church Նորաշեն Սուրբ Աստվածածին եկեղեցի
File:Norashen Church, Tbilisi.jpg Norashen Church, March 2007
Basic information
Location	Leselidze Street, Old Tbilisi, Georgia
Affiliation	Armenian Apostolic Church
Architectural description
Architectural style	Armenian
Completed	1467

Norashen Holy Mother of God Church or Norashen Surb Astvatsatsin Church (Georgian: ნორაშენი, Armenian: Նորաշեն Սուրբ Աստվածածին եկեղեցի ; Norashen meaning "newly constructed" in Armenian) is a 15th-century Armenian church located in Old Tbilisi, Georgia. It was founded in 1467 and renovated in 1650. It also underwent renovations later in 1795, 1808, and 1875.

Architecture

The church of Norashen is cruciform in plan with a single dodecagonal drum above, and twelve long windows located under a conical umbrella style dome. A small cupola sits at the peak of a gable on the roof. It has six slender columns that hold up a decorative arched hexagonal drum and small conical dome.

Public Controversy

Recently the church has been the subject of dispute between Armenians and the Georgian Orthodox Church which has sought to convert it into a Georgian Church. Among the actions taken by the Georgian church is the enclosing of the church with a concrete fence, the defacing of Armenian inscriptions on tombstones, and the bringing in of Georgian tombstones.

Georgian appropriation

It was claimed that beginning in 1983, Georgian authorities began the systematic removal of Armenian characteristics from the church. Among the changes were:

• The destruction of the portal (in front of the northern door) in 1983
• The removal and disappearance of Armenian tombstones in 1983
• The development of a construction site only a few meters south from the church in 1995
• The removal and disappearance in 1995 from the high altar of the 17th century khachkar (cross stone) with an inscription
• The destruction of the Armenian baptistry situated in the internal northern wall in 1995
• The closing of the church doors while in the process of destruction and alteration works progressed in 1995
• The replacement of the old doors with doors decorated with a "Georgian cross"
• The removal and destruction in 1995 of another khachkar from 1650 that was set in the wall inside the church
• The covering with asphalt of a tombstone situated near the northern entrance of the church

Gallery

• Armenian church of Norashen (Saint Mariam), Tbilisi, Georgia.jpg

  Closeup of the church

• Central part of Tbilisi.jpg

  Norashen Church (leftmost) among other churches in the Old Quarter of Tbilisi

• Norashen Armenian Church, Old Tbilisi.jpg

  View from surrounding streets

• Tbilisi, Georgia (3).jpg

  Norashen

• Old districts of Tbilissi.JPG

  View of Old Tbilisi from the fortress (Norashen in center-right)

• Khachkar in Norashen Church, Tbilisi.JPG

  Khachkar in Norashen Church

• An Armenian inscription on Norashen Church, Tbilisi.JPG

  An Armenian inscription on the Norashen Church

See also

• Armenians in Georgia
• List of Armenian churches in Tbilisi

Bibliography

• Template:Karapetyan 1998 (before-and-after photographic documentation, newspaper articles)

External links

• A Flickr photo set of Norashen (summer 2008)
• 3D model of the Norashen Church
• Photos of Norashen being "Georganized"