Church of Saint Karapet in Gavar
The founding of Saint Karapet belongs to the history of resettlement in the town. Armenians who moved here from Bayazet built the church under the leadership of the brothers Barsegh and Mkrtich Artsruni. The brothers are also remembered as founders of New Bayazet. Completed in 1848, the church provided a shared place for worship and the celebration of church feasts in the new settlement.
The building in the Bandi quarter is a basilica of dressed stone. The term “three-aisled” describes the division of its long interior into a central nave and two side aisles. Stones carved as khachkars, or cross-stones, were reused both in the walls of the church and in its courtyard enclosure. The municipal survey records inscriptions on two of them. These stones are older than the nineteenth-century building in which they now stand.
In 2012 the church underwent a full renovation with contributions from people in Gavar and other settlements. It was reconsecrated on 17 November. The dates 1848 and 2012 mark distinct stages in its life, from a new community’s building project to the restoration of its inherited place of worship.