Armenian parliamentarians concerned over ancient crypt’s future

Driven by concerns over the fate of a 4th century Armenian royal crypt excavated in the Aragatsotn region, a group of parliamentarians are planning to visit the ancient site to see the situation on the ground.

It comes after Aragats Akhoyan of the Prosperous Armenia faction voiced serious alarm about the desolate situation of the chapel, basilica and the excavation site in the village Dzorap (historical Aghdzk)

His statement spurred active discussions among parliament members (including Samvel Farmanyan, Tachat Vardapetyan etc) who are now said to be considering plans for rescuing area and later making it a tourist center.

Dzorap, a village on the slopes of Mount Aragats, is home to a large grave monument complex and basilica of the 4th to 5th centuries. The complex includes the 4th century architectural complex of Aghdzk, the Arsacid Dynasty’s (54-482) crypt, a church dating from the 6th-7th centuries etc.

Speaking to Tert.am, Mr Akhoyan shared his concerns over the exceptional historical samples. “Excavations were periodically carried out, but they were never completed. The Arsacid kings’ mausoleum, which is the only royal crypt our nation has on the territory of Armenia, is in a desolate state. I mean, the mausoleums have not been fully excavated, and shamefully enough, the bones are thrown around like waste. What’s even worse, they were broken, and the stone coffins were scattered around. So we have to take urgent measures to first of all complete the excavations and secondly, make them [the monuments] tourist attractions, as well a strategically important sacred place to contribute to our younger generation’s patriotic-military upbringing. From the 16th t to the 17th centuries, the Persians wanted to take possession of those bones in order to undermine our statehood, but we are consigning them to inattention today,” he noted.

Tert.am also talked to Pavel Avetisyan, the director of the National Academy’s Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, who shared his professional standpoint on the issue. The archaologist highlighed the importance of preserving the monuments as unique samples of national identity.

“This [complex includes] several graves of Armenian kings, which do not have their analogues in any other place. Hence, it is exceptional in this respect. If Ecnmiadzin is in the first place in our religious-cultural set of values, then the Arsacid kings’ grave should be the first as a secular [value]. So this is one of the remarkable memories in the Armenian history,” he explained.