Noratus Cemetery, Noratus, Yerevan ,Armenia The oldest khachkars in the cemetery date back to the late 10th century(A khachkar, also known as Armenian cross-stones is a carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, interlaces, and botanical motifs.Khachkars are characteristic of Medieval Christian Armenian art)The cemetery is spread over a seven hectare field containing almost a thousand khachkars each of them depicting unique ornamentation.The majority of the khachkars are covered by moss and lichen. Several tombstones in the cemetery depict carved scenes of weddings and farm life. Adjacent to the old cemetery a new modern cemetery has been built separated by a long fence. Nearby the cemetery in the village there is the Holy Virgin church built in the ninth century. One of the khachkars from the cemetery was donated to the British Museum in 1978 by Catholicos Vazgen I. The front face of the rectangular khachkar has a leaved-cross with two smaller crosses below that are framed with trefoil and bunches of grapes projecting from either side. An inscription on the left side seeks gods mercy for a certain Aputayli.A popular folktale associated with the cemetery concerns the invading army of Tamerlane. According to one story the villagers placed helmets on top of the khachkars and leaned swords against them. From a distance the khachkars looked like armed soldiers holding a defensive position as a result of which Tamerlane’s army retreated. In another popular story, the 19th-century monk named Ter Karapet Hovhanesi-Hovakimyan, from a monastery near the village, conducted burial services at Noraduz; in order to avoid the two-hour round trip from the cemetery to the monastery he built himself a small cell in Noraduz.When he was 90 years old, he asked his brother monks to bury him alive. His last words were: I do not fear death. I would like you to not be afraid also. Never fear anything, but God alone. Let anyone who has fear come to me. Pour water at the burial stone, drink the water, wash your face, chest, arms and legs. Then break the vessel that contained the water. Fear will then abandon you. To this day people come to the monks grave to perform this ritual, leaving broken pieces of glass scattered all about VIDEO HERE > https://youtube/watch?v=8GOF-fF1gMc Photo 1 by en:User:Eupator - en.wikipediaNoraduzKhachkars Photo 2 by abalabanyan.wordpress/Death story at Noratus Cemetery, Armenia A cross stone normally depicted, besides crosses, the life story of the deceased, what he/she did and how he/she died. So a cross stone for a fisherman will have a fish on it and if he died from a serpent bite, a carved snake will zigzag across the stone. There are also tombstones, again, with fine carvings, for example, one showing how a wedding party got raided by foreign warriors. Photo 3 by brittanyinwanderlust.wordpress/Photo 4~Rita Willaert - Chapel at the cemetery flickr/photos/rietje/2921899111
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 15:50:37 +0000
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