[82] Siunik was one of the large provinces into which Armenia was divided. Samuel of Ani places the completion of the cathedral in Arm. era 457 = A.D. 1008. But he may refer to a stage which was not quite the ultimate one. [↑]
[83] Brosset identifies this Aron with the Aron-Vestes of the Byzantines, who was sent to these countries about the year 1042, was commander of the imperial forces, became governor of Vaspurakan, Ani being attached to his jurisdiction, and was still in possession of his office in 1048 (Voyage Arch. loc. cit. p. 93). [↑]
[84] I am not aware that any inscription mentions the name of the architect. Sic vos non vobis! But Asoghik tells us that it was Tirdat or Tiridates, an Armenian architect who is reputed to have restored St. Sophia at Constantinople after its partial destruction by an earthquake. [↑]
[85] My measurements of the interior are:—Length, 41 feet (of which 15 feet is occupied by the apse measured from the daïs to the extremity of the recess); breadth, 26 feet. Texier mentions an adjacent baptistery (?). [↑]
[86] See especially Texier, Muravieff, and Abich’s Aus kauk. Länd. vol. i. pp. 198–99. [↑]
[87] The inscription has been translated by Brosset (Ruines d’Ani, pp. 145–48). [↑]
[88] Brosset (ibid. p. 15). I was able to verify the date, about which Brosset expresses some doubt (ibid. p. 148). [↑]
[89] For these two ruins see also Abich, op. cit. vol. i. pp. 196–97. [↑]
[90] For these inscriptions see Brosset, Ruines d’Ani, pp. 11–13. He reminds us of the importance of the date 1320 (Arm. era. 769) as being the year after the great earthquake. I must take this opportunity to caution my reader against accepting the tradition mentioned by Muravieff (ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 127) that the little chapel was built in A.D. 1000 by King Gagik I. I may also mention that we could discover no traces of the guardhouse adjacent to the bridge (Ruines d’Ani, p. 10). [↑]
[91] Khanikoff ap. Brosset, Voyage Arch. livr. 1, rapp. 3, p. 138. [↑]