Temple in the city of Ashtarak

In the city of Ashtarak, Karbibasar district

Ashtarak city – Ashtarak since 09.09.1930

Architecture

The walls of the temple are currently intact, but the ceiling is in a dilapidated state. Only a triangular structure remains on two sides of the ceiling. Its stones are scattered around. It is currently occupied by Armenians and called "Spitakavor". The temple was given to the Armenian Apostolic Church for free, with the right of indefinite use. It is currently in a dilapidated state.

The temple located in the city of Ashtarak was built by Christian Seljuk Turks at the beginning of the 13th century. It is a small building with a square floor, a semicircular moat and a dome on the eastern side. The entrances are from the west (main) and south. It was built with yellow and red tuff stones. The width and length of the temple are about 5 meters, and its height is about 6 meters.
It was part of the Karbibasar district, which was subordinate to the Seljuk Turks in the 11th-16th centuries and the Iravan Khanate in the 16th-19th centuries. After the Russian occupation in 1828, it passed under the jurisdiction of the Iravan district of the Iravan province, and then the Echmiadzin district. It was an area inhabited by Azerbaijanis. After the establishment of Soviet power in the territory now known as Armenia, the administrative-territorial division of the region was introduced in 1929. Ashtarak became the name of the district established on September 9, 1930.
It was mentioned as Ashtarak in the "Detailed Book of the Yerevan Province" compiled in 1590.

The toponym "Ashtarek" is derived from the word "ashu" in Turkish, which means "high mountain pass", and the word "tarak" in Turkish, which means "wrinkled mountain height", "broken stone fragments" (chinqil), "high, multi-toothed (comb-shaped) mountain". This word is used in the toponyms of the Mountainous Altai in the form of tarakay, meaning "bare rock on the mountain top". It is a complex toponym formed on the basis of the relief. The toponym indicates that Azerbaijanis have lived here since historical times.