SW News: For Armenian believers in Turkey, it was an emotional moment when Holy Mass was offered at the 10th-century Holy Cross Church in Akdamar on Lake Van in Eastern Anatolia on September 6. Turkish officials allow the Holy Liturgy to be celebrated in this church only once a year as it has been converted into a museum.

This year’s liturgy was celebrated by Bishop Tatul Anusyan, the secretary-general of the Armenian Patriarchate, and a few priests with a limited number of believers attending it. Civil officials, including Governor of Van Mehmet Emin Bilmez, were present during the Holy Mass. Since 2010, the government allows the Holy Liturgy to be celebrated inside the church once a year.

A UNESCO World Heritage monument, the Church dedicated to the Holy Cross was built between AD 915 and 921 by Bishop Manuel with the generous help of Armenian king Gagik I Ardzruni of Vaspurakan, who was a vassal of the Muslim Abbasids. The earliest reference to the church comes from Thomas Ardzruni, the chronicler of King Gagik. There are also inscriptions on the west façade of the church hinting at its date of construction.

What makes the church unique is its four-lobed clover-like cruciform shape known as the Hripsime type referring to the Hripsime Church at Vagharshapat that was constructed in 618 AD. Built out of volcanic rock, its dome rises 20 m above the ground.

Its walls sport stone relief decorations with themes taken from the Bible. One of the stone works on the western facade depicts King Gagik presenting a model of the church to Jesus. A unique depiction is the stone relief of Abbasid Caliph Muktadir on the eastern façade sitting cross-legged with a crown and a nimbus halo. The Child Jesus, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, Daniel in the lions’ den and David and Goliath are some of the other scenes from the facades.
Unlike many other Armenian churches, the interiors of Holy Cross Church contain frescoes depicting the story of creation and scenes from the life of Jesus. While some of them are well preserved, others might have been painted over at a later date.

Over the centuries, several additions were made to the church such as the chapels of St Stephen and St George and the large narthex adjacent to the western wing. In 1116, the See of Akdamar was established by Archbishop David as an independent episcopate of the Armenian Apostolic Church and it existed for eight centuries until 1895. After World War I, the church was abandoned and it fell into disrepair. The Turkish government carried out restoration work in 2005 to preserve the historical identity of the structure. In 2007, it was opened to visitors as a museum.