Khojivank Pantheon of Tbilisi

The Armenian Pantheon of Tbilisi, also known as Khojivank (Georgian: ხოჯივანქი Khojivank'i; Armenian: Խոջիվանք) or Khojavank (Armenian: Խոջավանք), is an Armenian architectural complex in north-eastern part of Avlabari district of Tbilisi, Georgia. Many notable Armenian writers, artists and public figures are buried there.

Armenian Pantheon of Tbilisi
The main cluster of tombstones remaining at Khojivank, 2011.
Details
Establishedc. 1655
Location
Tbilisi, Georgia
Coordinates41.698333°N 44.818611°E / 41.698333; 44.818611
Typepublic
Owned byTbilisi Municipality
Sameba Cathedral (built on the former grounds of Khojivank) as seen from the Armenian Pantheon
Exposed tombs in an excavated ditch
Excavation adjacent to the Pantheon exposing tombs of Khojivank
19th century epitaphs preserved in the Pantheon
19th and 20th century epitaphs

It formerly consisted of a huge memorial cemetery and the Holy Mother of God Armenian Church (St. Astvatsatsin church). The church and most part of the cemetery was destroyed in 1937, and most of the remaining part of the cemetery was destroyed between 1995 and 2004 during the construction of the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi Cathedral (also known as Sameba Cathedral). The tiny part that remains, together with some relocated gravestones, is preserved as the Armenian Pantheon of Tbilisi.

Construction and rise

The area was given to Armenian Bebut-Bek of Bebutov family in 1612 by Shah Abbas by appropriate diploma. His son Aslan Meliq-Bebut, treasurer of Georgian king Rostom of Kartli enlarged the original cemetery, built pipes for bringing water here, planted a number of trees and in 1655 built St. Astvatsatin church, called Khojivank as a name of the founded, who was called by Georgian king Rostom - Khoja Bebut (Big Bebut). Later the cemetery was called Khojivank too. The building sign preserved and is kept in Historical-Ethnographic Museum of Tbilisi, which says: "In summer of Armenian year of 1104 with the wish of God I, Khoja Bebut and my brother Khatin and my wife Lali built this church of humble Aslan". St. Astvatsatsin church was dedicated to Saint Purple Mother of God, was circled in fence, had beautiful walls and had a blossoming garden beside. Later the diploma of Bebutovs was renewed by Teimuraz II and Erekle II.

In 1899 a massive boundary wall was built around the cemetery, which by that time had enlarged immensely to become the largest Armenian cemetery in Tbilisi. The number of graves in the period before its destruction reached more than 90,000.

Destruction of the cemetery

By the 1920s burials in Khojivank had almost ceased.

In 1934, on Lavrentiy Beria's order, the church and cemetery started to be destroyed. The St. Astvatsatin church with surrounding church buildings were destroyed, all the chapels and crypts were crushed together with most of graves, whose gravestones and khachkars of rare marble and other stones were reused as building materials in other structures.[1] The Marxism-Leninism Institute building used a great deal of marble from the destruction of Khojivank, as did the Baratashvili ascent, the walkway in front of the Pioneer's Palace [1], the Institute of the Party halls (the current Georgian parliament) and Lavrentiy Beria's house at 11 Machabeli. The wall bordering School #68 and a water tower built in 1961 was also built of those gravestones. Some stones were used in a stairway in a park on Madaten island, and many other buildings. Special brigades of the People's Commissariat for State Security were seeking for precious items around the cemetery. This continued until 1938, by which time most of the cemetery had been destroyed, and a little part of the graves were saved and generally were moved to Petropavlovskoe cemetery. The gravestones of Hovhannes Tumanyan and Raffi were saved. The area was rebuilt as a park with the preliminary name "26 Commissars Park of Culture and Leisure", but its final name was "Friendship Park", where the walls were built mainly of Armenian gravestones.

On 17 March 1962 the Armenian Pantheon was opened containing about 30 saved gravestones - most of which did not have any human remains beneath them.

In 1994 construction of Holy Trinity Cathedral started inside the park area. At first it was announced to occupy area beside Khojivank, but the size of the new church was huge and it covered a significant part of Khojivank, including the site of the St. Astvatsatsin Armenian Church[1]. During foundation work for the church, bulldozers and excavators dug up the remains of thousands of those who had been interred in the cemetery, and around the future church mounds of skulls and bones were formed. These human remains, mixed with broken tombstones and other debris, were later taken away in trucks to an unknown destination.[1]. Most of the remaining graves were removed, most gravestones were removed. Grigoriy Dolukhanov's gravestone was thrown in front of the Armenian theater and left for several years. As a response to Armenian protests the construction temporarily stopped. In June 1997 construction started again.[1]

On December 25th, 2002 the first church service was held. On November 23rd, 2004 the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi was officially opened.

Epigrams

The graves in the cemetery had a great number of epigrams and gravestones with short notes, which revealed much about the Armenian population of Tbilisi, families, various heritages and different sides of social life. Among the more famous epigrams were Sayat-Nova's wife's gravestone epigram, which said "456 (1768 y.). In this grave I am - wife of Sayat-Nova Marmar. Bless". Another example was epigram: "Here I am - wife of Ter-David, Archpriest of Mughni church. Who reads remember. Summer 420 (1732y.)". Grigor Artsruni's gravestone, created like a cliff, is lost. Ghazaros Aghayan gravestone with the epigram: "Friend of children Ghazaros Aghayan" is lost too. Some epigrams are preserved thanks to A. Yeremyan, who rewrote and published in Vienna the epigraphs of Khojivank of 19th century end - 20th century start, and some single examples are preserved in the Historical-Ethnographic museum in Tbilisi. Yeremyan wrote, "there were thousands of granite, marble sculptures and stelea, thousands of short and exciting notes, sad poems and quatrains".

Burials

Here are some of the famous Armenians burials:[2]

Name Date Occupation
Ghazaros Aghayan 1840–1911 Writer, educator, folklorist, historian, linguist and public figure
Hakob Aghabab 1926 Poet
Isahak Alikhanian 1946 Actor
Grigor Artsruni 1845–1892 "Mshak" newspaper editor
Bagrat Ayvazian 1937 Writer
Ashkharhabek Bebutov Founder of Khojivank
Vasili Bebutov 1791–1858 General
Nikol Duman 1867–1914 Military leader and member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation party
Keri 1916 Military commander
Gevorg Hakhverdian 1892 Philologist, doctor, public figure, Sayat-Nova publisher
Hakob Hakobian (poet) 1866–1937 Poet
Naghash Hovnatan 1722 Great fresco artist of his time
Mkrtun Hovnatanyan 1846
Jivani 1846–1909 Gusan (composer, singer)
Gayane Khachaturian 1942–2009 Painter
Vano Khojabekian 1875–1922 Graphic artist
Alexander Mantashev 1842–1911 Oil magnate, 1st Guild merchant and Speaker of the Tiflis Duma
Olga Maysuryan 1861–1931 Actress
Muratsan 1854–1908 Writer
Nar-Dos 1867–1933 Writer
Stepanos Nersisyan 1807–1884 Painter
Isay Pitoev 1904 Educator and philanthropist
Pertch Proshian 1837–1909 Writer and teacher
Raffi 1835–1888 Novelist and writer
Sos Sosyan 1928–2008 Actor
Gabriel Sundukyan 1825–1912 Writer and playwright, the founder of modern Armenian drama
Nikita Shahnazarian General-Lieutenant in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78)
Tserents (Hovsep Shishmanyan) 1822–1888 Writer
Aleksandr Tsaturyan 1865–1917 Poet and translator
Prince Georgi Tumanov 1854–1920 Founder of Georgian theater community and Tiflis College
Prince Mikhail Tumanov 1818–1875 Famous Georgian poet, first Pushkin translator to Georgian
Hovhannes Tumanyan 1869–1923 Poet and writer
Makar Yekmalian 1856–1905 Composer, conductor
Aleksandr Yeritsian 1841–1902 Historian and archeologist
Gevorg Yevangulian 1901 City mayor
Simon Zavarian 1866–1913 One of the founders of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation party
Sargis Darchinian 1947–2013 Archivist, Art-photographer, Author of book («Թիֆլիս. Հայկական ճեպանկարներ» - «Tiflis. Armenian Etudes/Sketches») and articles about Armenians and Houses/Buildings/Edifices (Armenians built, owned or dwelt in) in old Tiflis

Among famous Armenian families buried in Khojivank were

  • Bebutov family
  • Karaganov family
  • Sarajev family
  • Kalantarov family
  • Kuzanov family
  • Amirov family
  • Sharoev family
  • Agajanov family
  • Ter-Davidov family
  • Beriev family
  • Muradov family
  • Ter-Ghevondyan family
  • Amiragov family
  • Pitoev family
  • Tarkhanov family
  • Tumanov family
  • Argutinsky-Dolgoroukov family (destroyed)[3][4][5]
  • Entrance to the Pantheon
  • Plaque at entrance
  • Descriptive plaque inside the Pantheon (in English)
  • Descriptive plaque in Armenian
  • Tombstone of Hovhannes Tumanyan
  • Monument to Raffi
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See also

References
  1. Karapetyan, Samvel (1998). The State Policy of Georgia and the Monuments of Armenian Culture (in Armenian). Yerevan.
  2. Armenian Pantheon of Tbilisi Armeniapedia.org
  3. "Аргутинский-Долгоруков Давид Луарсабович — Энциклопедия фонда «Хайазг»". ru.hayazg.info. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  4. "Аргутинский-Долгоруков Александр Иванович — Энциклопедия фонда «Хайазг»". ru.hayazg.info. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  5. Voennaia Elita Armeniii (PDF) (in Russian). Tbilisi. 2014. pp. 20–30. ISBN 978-9941-0-6581-1.


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