Lianna
@lianna_armenian • 7,574 subscribers
✝️🇦🇲 Focused on #Armenia – First #Christian Country in the world | Sacred Sites, History & Heritage | All tweets written by me | 🇦🇲🤝🇬🇷🇫🇷🇱🇧 | No DMs |
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✝️ 🇦🇲 The largest #Christian cathedral in #Iran🇮🇷 is a painted Bible. The #Armenian Vank Cathedral in Isfahan was built over 350 years ago. Every square centimeter was hand-painted by three ✝️🇦🇲 monks over decades. This true gem was built under the patronage of Archbishop David. Vank Cathedral ("Amnaperkich," meaning "Savior of All") was begun in 1655 and completed in 1664 AD. It's one of 13 surviving 17th-century churches in Isfahan's Julfa district. Over the following centuries, the complex expanded to include a bell-tower (1702), a printing press founded by Bishop Khachatoor, a library (1884), and a museum (1905). The interior paintings, inspired by both the Old and New Testaments, were executed by Armenian masters and three monks: Havans, Stepanus, and Minas. Every surface-the walls, arches, the collar and interior of the dome, and all corners of the Cathedral-is decorated with oil paintings. All around the walls of the Cathedral, there are many inscriptions which are written in the Armenian language that invite the readers to pray for the constructors of the Cathedral and their descendants. Most of the murals depict biblical themes, illustrating the story from the birth to the ascension of Jesus Christ.
Lianna158,318 次观看 • 5 个月前
May Lord protect everyone and keep all innocent lives safe 🙏. ✝️68 AD. Hidden in the mountains of #Iran 🇮🇷. One of the oldest surviving 🇦🇲✝️ #Christian churches on Earth-built on the martyrdom site of an apostle. The #Armenian Monastery of Saint Thaddeus was founded in 68 AD according to sacred tradition on the very spot where Saint Thaddeus, one of the twelve apostles, was martyred and buried This makes it an apostolic-era sanctuary where Armenians have prayed since the 1st century, long before Armenia became the first Christian nation in 301 AD. Its walls have witnessed empires rise and fall. They all came and went, but the Armenian prayer never stopped. The current structure is a mosaic of centuries. The oldest surviving parts, around the altar apse, date from the 7th century, with some traditions linking earlier origins to the 4th century or the apostolic era. After an earthquake destroyed much of it in 1319, the monastery was extensively rebuilt in the 1320s under Bishop Zachariah. Further repairs occurred over the centuries, including in the 17th century. In the early 19th century, under the patronage of Father Superior Simeon, a large western extension (a narthex-like structure) was added, deliberately echoing the design of Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In 2008, UNESCO inscribed the Monastery of Saint Thaddeus (together with the Monastery of Saint Stepanos and the Chapel of Dzordzor, all in Iran's northwestern provinces) on its World Heritage List as the "Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran." This recognition highlights their outstanding universal value in Armenian architectural and decorative traditions, cultural diffusion, and pilgrimage heritage. Every year, thousands of pilgrims-Armenians and others-still journey to this remote mountain valley to kneel where an apostle is believed to have fallen. The annual three-day pilgrimage in July venerates Saint Thaddeus and Saint Sandukht (a royal convert martyred with him).
Lianna102,006 次观看 • 3 个月前
🇦🇲✝️🇬🇷 Rare archival footage of children during the #Smyrna Holocaust and the death marches of the #Armenian Genocide. Never forget the #Armenian and #Greek Genocides – the systematic extermination of #Christians. May God illuminate the blessed souls of the martyrs.🕯️ #History #Armenia #Ελλάδα
Lianna50,164 次观看 • 1 个月前
✝️ 🇦🇲 Heartbreaking words of an #Armenian #Christian grandmother: "I often can't sleep at night. I remember my childhood. I don't sleep..." Every survivor of the Armenian Genocide witnessed unimaginable horrors: priests burned alive in their churches, families torn apart on brutal death marches to Deir ez-Zor, entire villages erased, churches destroyed. Over 2 million blessed Christian martyrs perished: 1.5 million Armenians, 350,000 Pontic Greeks, and over 250,000 Assyrians (Seyfo). It began on April 24, 1915, when hundreds of Armenian intellectuals, clergy, and community leaders were arrested in Constantinople and executed. Communities were left leaderless and defenseless. What followed were systematic forced deportations. Armenian men were separated from their families and murdered on the spot. Women, children, and the elderly were marched southward into the Syrian desert under horrific conditions. These death marches involved starvation, dehydration, and relentless attacks by gendarmes and irregular militias. Countless died from exhaustion and violence long before reaching the camps. Entire villages were depopulated. Churches and cultural sites were razed. Armenian (and other Christian) property was seized and redistributed. Families were shattered. Children were orphaned. 1.5 million Armenian Christians lost their lives. In Deir ez-Zor and elsewhere, many died from starvation, typhus, or were buried in mass graves. The world witnessed. Morgenthau sent urgent cables to Washington. Henry Morgenthau Sr. described it as a "campaign of race extermination." Deniers obscure the truth, but such voices continue to be heard. German photographer Armin Wegner documented mass graves and starving survivors. Missionaries and Near East Relief workers recorded priests burned alive and other atrocities in diaries and reports. Thousands of pages of eyewitness testimony exist from neutral consuls, missionaries, and survivors. Deniers ask: "Where are the graves?" The perpetrators ensured few remained visible. Bodies were left along roadsides, thrown into the Euphrates, dumped in mass trenches, burned, or covered with lime to hasten decomposition. The desert swallowed the rest. Cemeteries, churches, and monasteries were destroyed, erased, or built over. But the truth cannot be buried. Pre-war Armenians numbered around 1.5-2 million in the Ottoman Empire. The campaign decimated them. This was one of the greatest crimes against humanity: The Armenian Genocide - recognized as the first modern genocide by scholars and many nations. Deniers still prosecute their own citizens under laws for calling it genocide. Key Ottoman documents from 1915 to 1923 remain sealed, reclassified, or missing - many archives were removed or destroyed as the CUP leaders fled in 1918. Scholars who accessed them found clear proof - yet access has often been restricted while Armenia has opened its archives fully and calls for independent, international historians to examine all sides' records without preconditions. Do not forget individuals like Mustafa Bey Azizoglu, district governor of Malatya (a key deportation transit point). Though unable to stop the deportations entirely, he hid several Armenians in his home - at the cost of his life. He was murdered by his own son. One of the survivors of the Armenian genocide refused to let the regime's leaders who ordered the massacres walk free. Soghomon Tehlirian, who lost his entire family - including his mother - in the Armenian Genocide, assassinated the chief architect of the massacres in broad daylight on a Berlin street on March 15, 1921. At his trial, he declared: "I have killed a man, but I am not a murderer." Witnesses exposed the Genocide's horrors; the German jury acquitted him. His act became a symbol of justice. Eternal memory to the blessed martyrs.
Lianna38,242 次观看 • 2 个月前
✝️🇦🇲 May the Lord bless #Armenia - the first #Christian country on earth-guardian of ancient, sacred, unbreakable #history. Over 1,700 years ago, Armenia built the first cathedral on earth: Etchmiadzin Cathedral. Imagine this: In a divine vision, St. Gregory the Illuminator saw Christ Himself descend from heaven and strike the ground with a golden hammer -marking the exact spot where the cathedral would rise. That's how Etchmiadzin Cathedral was built. The cathedral has been rebuilt and enriched over centuries. Its interior shines with 18th-century frescoes-floral motifs, birds, arabesques, Old Testament scenes, and saints -painted by masters like Naghash Hovnatan. The exterior features intricate stone carvings, blind arcades, geometric patterns, and early 5th-6th century reliefs of the Apostle St. Paul and St. Thecla. Today, Etchmiadzin Cathedral remains the spiritual headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church - the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, Supreme Patriarch and leader of Armenians worldwide. Its museum preserves relics beyond measure: the Holy Lance (the spear that pierced Christ), relics of the Apostles and John the Baptist, and a fragment believed to be from Noah's Ark. In 2000, Etchmiadzin Cathedral - together with the churches of St. Hripsime and St. Gayane - was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Lianna31,644 次观看 • 2 个月前
✝️ May the Lord protect all sacred heritage in #Iran 🇮🇷. There's a #Christian monastery in #Iran. Most people don't know it exists. 🇦🇲 The #Armenian Monastery of Saint Stepanos has stood for over 1,000 years. Tradition says Saint Bartholomew founded a Church here in 62 AD. A sanctuary that has witnessed millennia-still standing, still sacred. Armenian prayers have never stopped. St. Stepanos Monastery is widely regarded as the second most important Armenian monastery in Iran. The site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008. The real magic of this place is its layered history. Armenian tradition holds that Saint Bartholomew the Apostle founded a church at the site around AD 62, during the Parthian era. Some accounts suggest early Christian activity in the broader region as early as the 1st century. Armenian hands built these walls. The first monastery structure dates to the 7th century (with the earliest documented reference around 649 AD), and it was expanded in the 10th century. The current main buildings were largely rebuilt in the Safavid era after damage from wars and earthquakes. The site suffered damage during the wars between the Seljuks and Byzantines in the 11th and 12th centuries. In the 14th century, after destruction from wars and earthquakes (notably around 1319), it was restored in the 1320s under Bishop Zachariah. By the 14th and 15th centuries, the monastery reached the height of its cultural and intellectual influence, serving as a center for producing illuminated manuscripts, paintings, and works in religion, history, and philosophy, many of which survive in collections like the Matenadaran in Yerevan, Armenia. The early Safavid dynasty (16th century) initially protected Armenian communities, but the region became a battleground in Ottoman-Safavid conflicts. The monastery gradually declined. In 1604–1605, Shah Abbas the Great forcibly relocated many Armenians (including from nearby areas), leading to periods of abandonment. The Safavids later reoccupied the region, and the monastery was restored in the latter part of the 17th century. Further restorations occurred in the Qajar era, with Crown Prince Abbas Mirza personally supporting repairs and maintenance in the early 19th century (around 1819–1825). The monastery complex includes the main Church, as well as the Darreh Sham and Chupan chapels. It is known for its intricate carvings, reddish stone, and impressive dome. UNESCO recognizes the Armenian Monastic Ensembles (including St. Stepanos Monastery) for bearing "continuous testimony, since the origins of Christianity and certainly since the 7th century, to Armenian culture in its relations and contact with the Persian and later the Iranian civilisations." The monastery is considered a masterpiece of Armenian architecture, featuring a unique combination of Byzantine, Armenian, and Persian elements. Its ancient stones still echo centuries of prayers.
Lianna28,520 次观看 • 3 个月前
✝️🇦🇲 The #Armenian Quarter of #Jerusalem is the living, beating heart of one of the world's oldest continuous #Christian communities - a presence in the Holy Land that spans over 1,700 years. This sacred sanctuary breathes history, where the faith and culture of millennia are woven into daily life. While Armenia made history in 301 AD as the first country to adopt Christianity, Armenians had been in Jerusalem for centuries. The first recorded visit dates to 96 BCE, and in 70 CE, Romans brought Armenian merchants and administrators to the city. A large number of Armenian monks are recorded to have settled in Jerusalem as early as the 4th century, following the uncovering of Christian holy places in the city. The first written records confirming this community are from the 5th century. A major strengthening occurred in the 12th century, when approximately one thousand Armenians-presumably from the allied Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia-moved to Jerusalem. In Crusader-era Jerusalem, Armenian women were pivotal pillars who shaped the kingdom's history through strategic marriages and political leadership. Notably, Queen Melisende, daughter of the Armenian Princess Morphia, ruled in her own right for over two decades. A major patron of the arts and the Armenian Church, she directly fortified the Armenian Quarter, ensuring its enduring presence. The heart of this self-contained enclave is the St. James Cathedral and Monastery, a 12th-century complex that serves as its spiritual center. Nearby, the Gulbenkian Library safeguards one of the world’s most extensive collections of Armenian manuscripts. The Armenian Quarter is also the birthplace of the world-famous Armenian ceramics of Jerusalem, a vibrant art form that flourished in the 19th century. Beyond its walls lies a silent testament to ancient roots: the Armenian Bird Mosaic (5th-6th century), just outside Damascus Gate, bearing the inscription: “For the memory and redemption of all the Armenians whose names God knows.” At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Armenian Apostolic Church is one of the three primary custodians under the "Status Quo." They hold exclusive control over the Chapel of St. Helena and the "Chapel of the Division of the Raiment," maintain the second-most prominent altar in the Rotunda, and hold the right to perform the annual ceremonial washing of the Edicule on Holy Saturday. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem holds one of the world's largest and most significant collections of Armenian manuscripts-a treasury of over 4,000 volumes. These treasures, spanning from the 9th to the 19th centuries, include illuminated Gospels, biblical, and historical texts. The English writer Philip Marsden wrote that the survival of the Armenians in Jerusalem-"most intense of all cities"-demonstrates a profound cultural and spiritual fortitude.
Lianna33,104 次观看 • 4 个月前
✝️🇦🇲 May the Lord bless the Christian heritage of #Armenia, the first #Christian country in the world, which safeguards the ancient Akhtala Monastery, over a millennium old. Founded in the 10th century, this fortress-monastery was transformed two centuries later into a living Bible through its unique and breathtaking 13th-century Byzantine frescoes. Every surface bursts with frescoes depicting Old and New Testament miracles: the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate and Caiaphas, the sacred Communion, and saints in glory. So vivid they feel alive, they breathe faith into stone. Its main Church, St. Astvatsatsin, is a unique sanctuary and a masterpiece of synthesis, featuring a harmonious blend of Armenian, Georgian, and Byzantine elements. Scholarly analysis reveals the frescoes were likely the joint creation of eight master artists. The 13th-century frescoes of Akhtala Monastery are considered one of the finest examples of Byzantine art outside the empire, with inscriptions primarily in Greek. They represent a profound synthesis: while the coloring and technique are quintessentially Byzantine, the thematic narratives are distinctly Armenian, drawing parallels to earlier Armenian masterpieces like the 11th-century Mugni Gospels. The Akhtala Monastery was also a major center of manuscript writing, particularly from the 13th to the 14th centuries. In the 13th century, Simeon Pghndzahantsi worked here, and both Armenian and Georgian literature was studied.
Lianna22,273 次观看 • 4 个月前