ЗНОВУ ВІДКРИТИЙ КУЛЬТОВИЙ ПЕЧЕРНИЙ КОМПЛЕКС В ІСТОРИЧНОМУ ЦЕНТРІ БАХЧИСАРАЮ І ПРОБЛЕМА ЛОКАЛІЗАЦІЇ ВІРМЕНСЬКИХ РЕЛІГІЙНИХ ЦЕНТРІВ В СТОЛИЦІ КРИМСЬКОГО ХАНСТВА

Abstract

The religious activity of Crimean Armenians is not yet fully investigated. For example, the former attempts to localize three Armenian spiritual centers in Bakhchisarai mentioned in the narrative sources, partly failed due to inner contradictions in these sources. The new data got by us give the possibility to clear up this question. In the archive of the artist D. M. Strukov we have found the uncertain mention about the presence of a cave church in Bakhchisarai. In 2007–2008, by an inspection at the spot, the rock-cut six-cave complex was discovered at Gorki street, 28a – 30. There is a large niche in the north-eastern wall of first of the caves with two minor niches at the left and at the right of it. We concern this cave as a church, with an apsis in the middle niche, whilst the prothesis and the diakonikon were disposed in the left and the right niches respectively. The third and fourth apartments also have half-rounded northern walls. In the third cave vaulted part of wall contains five small, strongly ruined niches, which look like tailings of the stalactite fini-shing, and there is a large apsis-like niche in the wall of fourth apartment, that points on an idea about existence here of another rocky church or a chapel. The comparative analysis of these apartments and the caves of the settlement of Ani leads us to the conclusion about Armenian origin of Bakhchisarai caves. Later we have discovered, that on the plans of Bakhchisarai drawn at 1786 and 1811, a cruciform object (which on a plan 1811 is noted as the Armenian church in the name of “Dormition of the Holy Mother of God”) is marked at the place of our interest. On-surface type of this church explains its too long-time renewal after its destruction in 1634. And the presence of two nearby spelaean churches points a place, where memorable records were made at that period, and explains the double name of this religious center (the Holy Mother of God and St. Gregory the Illuminator). Other contradictions in narrative sources, concerning the spelaean church, are also dissolved, as, in fact, there were two churches of the same name. Former interpretation of the second church as “semispelaean” for a long time drew away attention from the question about its primary localization. To our opinion, it was situated to the NE from the place of excavations. We succeeded also to localize on-surface temple of St. Gregory the Illuminator (just at the place of excavations) and the “newly built” church of the Holy Mother of God, which was situated approximately at the spot, nowadays addressed as Gorki street, 18. Thus, the results of our investigations enable us to specify the number of Armenian religious centers in Bakhchisarai, known from narrative sources, to localize them, and also to trace the stages of their evolution.