Surp Khach of Aghpag or Surp Etchmiadzin Sorarder Church

Set in in the mountains at an altitude of 2400 meters and just kilometers from the Iranian border the remote village of Yanal is home to a prestigious past and a unique medieval Armenian Church.

While now known as Yanal this village was known as Sorader by the Armenian population who lived here. This remote spot was once the home of the Artsruni, a noble family of the Armenian aristroctacy and rulers of Vaspurakan during its period of independence. Even while the Artsrunis ruled from other locations (most famously Akdamar Island) they maintained a tradition of burying their nobles in Sorader.

It was under the patronage of the Artsruni family that the majority of the churches in the region were built, especially the magnificent Church of the Holy Cross of Aghtamar (Akdamar), which, among the depictions of saints, also bears the engraved figures of Artsruni notables.

Subscribe to The Art of Wayfaring!

While the account is possibly only myth used to give prestige to the Artsruni family, the Artsruni family traces its lineage to the Assyrian rulers, specifically to the two sons of Sennacherib who, according to the Biblical account in Isaiah 37:38 struck down their father and fled to Ararat (Armenia).

The legacy of Sorader has been reduced to a single (though rather unique) church and a handful of large gravestones, though the church is in a state of alarming disrepair. The church, founded some time in the 9th century, is known to have had two different names. Surp Etchmiadzin Sorader, which can be roughly translated as “Descent of the Only Begotten” in reference to Christ. The second name Surp Khach Aghpag comes from the fact that, for a time this church held the relic of Surp Khach, or “The Holy Cross” of Varag, which was later kept at Varagavank, before it was moved to the Etchmiadzin Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Armenia where you can see it today (Aghpag refers to the district that the town of Sorader was situated in).

The design of the church is almost identical to that of the famous Surp Khach of Aghtamar apart for the strange square-vault that is used in place of the more traditional cone and drum. The square vault is similar to the one used in the narthex of the nearby Church of St Bartholomew where perpendicular sets of ribs form a # shape. At Surp Khach Sorader this square vault is formed by such a mass of masonry that it looks strangely top heavy from the outside. A small cupola is set on top of the flat top of the main vault, looking almost too small compared to the massive body of stonework below it.

The interior space is a tetraconch, or a central vault surrounded by four semi-circular apses, of which the two on the east and west are elongated by means of a barrel vault. In the corners between the square pillars are empty spaced topped by stepped squinches similar to those of Ardzvaber monastery and, especially, the highly influential church of Surp Hrispime in Armenia.

While the facing stones of the upper portion have remained in fair condition, much of the lower portion has lost its facing stones which would likely have been decorated or carved with crosses and inscription. This decline in the lower structure of the church puts the building at risk of rapid decline over the coming years. Despite the loss of many of these stones many of the traditional motifs of Armenian architecture can still be seen including deep ‘V’ cut niches, narrow windows capped in mouldings and fine patterns.