Architects of the Armenian Kingdom of Bagratids

Abstract

The article examines one of important representatives of the creativity of architects of the Bagratids period in Armenia, from the late-9th to the midd-11th century, including the initial period of the restarting of church construction related with the weakening of the Arab yoke, and the heyday of the country's capital Ani. Based on the analysis of the architecture of five churches, typical for different phases of the development of architecture of the Bagratids period, the features of the churches' composition and the image are traced. Also, the role of the programmed appeal to the monuments of the previous period and the form of antiquity is revealed. This call is expressed the reverence of the builders of Armenian churches towards to the authors of the cathedrals, the major rulers of Armenia in the pre-Arab era. Every step in this creative workleading to unexpected new innovations both in typology and in various development of stylistics. The analysis of the architecture of the cathedrals in Shirakavan, Kars, Argina, Ani and other buildings makes talk about the absence of a progressive evolutionary line of the stylistic development of architecture in the Bagratid era.