Cathedral of Mren

Armenian church built in the 7th century

Cathedral of Mren

Mren in the early 20th century

Religion
Affiliation| Armenian Apostolic Church
Location
Location| Digor District

Shown within Turkey

Geographic coordinates| 40°14′32″N 43°39′47″E﻿ / ﻿40.242125°N 43.662953°E﻿ / 40.242125; 43.662953
Architecture
Type| Three-nave basilica with dome
Style| Armenian
Groundbreaking| 631
Completed| 639

The Cathedral of Mren is a 7th-century Armenian church in an abandoned medieval town site called Mren. It is located in the Kars region of Turkey, near the border with Armenia, about 1.5 km west of the Akhurian River.

## Architecture

[edit]

The church of Mren is a domed triple-nave basilica, believed, on the basis of an inscription on its west facade and on stylistic features, to have been built 631–639. It was built by David Saharuni, an Armenian ally of the emperor Heraclius, to celebrate the latter's entry into Jerusalem in 628.

## Gallery

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* Path leading from village Karabağ to city of Mren

* Collapsed side aisle

*   *   *   * Portal with relief

* Facade with khachkars

* Lintel with relief

* Side aisle

* Apse

## See also

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* Odzun Church, an architecturally similar and contemporaneous three-nave basilica with dome in Odzun, Armenia
* Ani Cathedral, another ruined Armenian church near Mren

## Further reading

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* Kouymjian, Dickran. "Index of Armenian Art: Armenian Architecture - Mren". Armenian Studies Program. California State University, Fresno. Archived from the original on 2008-06-20.
* Maranci, Christina, "New Observations on the Frescoes at Mren," Revue des Études Arméniennes 35 (2013): 203–225.
* Thierry, Michel and Nicole, "La cathédral de Mren et sa decoration," Cahiers Archaéologiques 21 (1971): 43–77.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cathedral of Mren.

* The Cathedral of Mren on VirtualAni.org
* The Cathedral of Mren[permanent dead link] on Gagik Arzumanyan's photo gallery
* Mren Cathedral Archived 2020-06-26 at the Wayback Machine at the Rensselaer Digital Collections
* 3D model of Mren Archived 2012-10-13 at the Wayback Machine
* The War That Ended The Ancient World on YouTube channel ToldInStone, https://www.youtube.com/@toldinstone

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