A regular reader’s perspective |

Ashot Haykazun Grigoryan is the most recently published Influence of Christian Architecture and Pre-Christian Culture in Armenia (Zangak, 2023) defines architecture as the art of building that only symbols can do. Grigorian asserts that symbols can express our buildings more than building materials, building uses, surrounding environmental considerations, or any other considerations. The inscription of the fifth century BC Chinese philosopher Confucius – “The way of the world is nothing more than symbols, nothing more than laws or words” – places the roots of the book in the deep meaning of things that only symbols can reveal.

Grigoryan wrote a 438-page, meticulously researched study containing diagrams, illustrations, and photographs of buildings and monuments built in the Armenian Highlands and urban centers from the BC era to the late Middle Ages, providing evidence for the symbolic basis of Armenian architecture.

The symbolic image of two intertwined triangles

Grigorian believes that symbols played a key role in the creation of our pre-Christian culture and left an indelible mark on Armenian Christian architecture. He affirms that interpreting Christian architecture from the perspective of symbols will reveal paradigmatic continuity.

There is much evidence of symbolic thinking in the earliest artwork of our ancestors, such as rock carvings in the Armenian Highlands, which have been depicted as symbols throughout history. Symbolic imagery—such as the Armenian eternity symbol, the two intertwined triangles used in cross-stone art, the tree of life widely used in liturgical architecture, the sun lion, and many more—is used over and over again in our homes, places of worship, and monuments. Grigorian points out that even as they have evolved and adapted to the needs of a particular place or time, these symbols have retained their original form and meaning.

Armenian architecture, at least to the layman, is almost entirely synonymous with the beauty and grandeur of our churches, starting with the Cathedral of Echmiadzin, the mother church built in the fourth and fifth centuries after Armenia adopted Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD, the seventh-century Church of Saint Hripsime, one of the oldest surviving churches in the country, and many others built in the Middle Ages and later. The architectural design of these churches has an unparalleled visual appeal that cannot be denied.

Grigorian simply invited a new way of thinking that took Armenian architecture beyond the boundaries of Christianity and paganism and expanded it, giving it a broader, richer meaning.

Besides recovering the infinite wealth of more than two thousand years of pre-Christian Armenian cultural heritage, the myths (Vahagn, Anahit, Astghik) that once inspired our poets (Daniel Varoujan, Vahe-Vahian, Levon Shant), Grigoryan’s innovative approach incorporated the Armenian spirit and identity dating back to prehistory into Christian Armenian architecture.

Grigorian believes that nature has always provided subtext for our religious architecture and aesthetic creations. The symbolic representations in our temples and churches derive from the natural forces of the material world. Grigorian cites the Akhtamar Church of the Holy Cross, built in 915-921 AD, as an example of a “symbolic whole” that demonstrates the implementation of the Heaven, Man, and Earth model, which divides the world into four parts/sides along vertical and horizontal axes, and the Four Principles, as manifested in cultures around the world. For example, the four walls that make up the structure symbolize the four elements, earth, water, air, and fire. The main altar faces east, toward the rising sun. The exterior walls are covered with images of plants and animals from nature, and so on.

Returning to nature as the source, the creation of symbols becomes part of humanity’s desire to find its place in the universe. To illustrate this, Grigorian describes the gradual shift from building homes in natural caves to using natural caves as a model for home construction. An example is a village on a hillside where the roof of one home is the yard of another. Other factors that create a habitable environment include drinking water, arable land, and a geographical location that provides protection from disasters. Grigorian describes a village where the homes are built along the river that flows through the village. This collaboration between art and nature ensures the survival of humanity, and for Grigorian, this is the raison d’être of architecture.

When the man-made and the natural merge, and the present and the Christian are in harmony, division and the hatred and war that come with it become irrelevant. Grigorian’s strategy of connecting the world through symbols allows us to see into the nature of things, reminding us of the commonalities of all human endeavors, and opening the door to connections that can alter the self-destructive path of genocide and war. It is a spirit that strives to unite rather than to divide, and helps to preserve and advance history rather than to destroy it. For me, this vision of unity is the book’s greatest appeal.

From a more selfish perspective, promoting continuity and unity will make it more difficult for Armenia’s enemies to rewrite history. Evidence of the continued presence of the Armenians could actually serve as an antidote to the deliberate destruction of our religious and cultural artifacts by Azerbaijan, which seeks to wipe out a millennial culture and erase all traces of the Armenian presence in our historical lands.