Researchers find disappearing Armenian monuments in Ukraine (photos, videos)

Lots of Armenian cultural monuments on the territory of Ukraine are disappearing due to the lessening number of ethnic Armenians in the country, an expedition has found.

A group of foreign researchers, who visited the country between July 11 and 17, conducted studies in different regions, including Voliny, Ternopol, Ivano-Frankovsk, Khmelnitsky and Chernovtsy.

According to the Russian-Armenian newspaper Yerkramas, the group toured five regions within a week, crossing a distance of 2,000 kilometers. Their purpose was to study the Armenian historical-cultural monuments and find new evidence on the presence of Armenians there.

They photographed all the constructions of ancient Armenian colonies. The Armenian catholic churches situated in the cities of Horodenka and Berezhany had for the first time their interior designs examined. The group also conducted meetings with ethnic Armenians.

The studies revealed that Armenian cemeteries and constructions have been preserved only in several cities, including Berezhani, Yazlovets, Lisets, Horodenka and Kaments. But in other places, such as Buchach, Kolomyia, Tysmenytsia and Lutsk, absolutely no trace of the Armenian heritage was found.

The researchers claim that the Armenian monuments disappeared in peacetime. The Armenian monastery of Tysmenytsia, for example, was pulled down in the 1960s by the local authorities’ permission, and the chapel of the ancient Armenian cemetery was rebuilt on the same territory only in 2011. Church constructions in several cities and towns (Ivanovo-Frankovo, Kuta, Yazlovets) have undergone internal and external redesigns, as some of them were previously repaired. The Armenian graves in those places are said to be extremely forlorn.

The situation with the Armenian monuments in the country’s west is, to a certain extent, accounted for by the absence of ethnic Armenians who migrated to Poland from 1946 to 1947. Presently, the monuments are left under the care of Ukrainian enthusiasts and the volunteers of the Poland-based Armenian organization, Fundacja Ormiańska KZKO.

The group is planning to conduct on-going studies in the above regions.