Dikranagerd
Dikranagerd church in Turkey to display Armenian legacy
One of Diyarbakır’s (Dikranagerd) most famous churches, the Armenian church
of Surp Giragos, is set to become a city museum hosting artwork and artifacts
depicting the Armenian history in the city, Hurriyet Daily News reports,
according to Asbarez.
Earlier, the Hürriyet Daily News reported that Diyarbakir Metropolitan
Mayor Osman Baydemir and Surp Giragos Armenian Foundation President Ergün Ayik
had signed a protocol to turn the church, which was recently restored and
opened to prayer, into a museum.
According to the protocol, the church’s Hidir Ilyas section will be given
to the municipality and converted into a museum featuring belongings and
ethnographic artifacts.
Ayik said the church was the largest church in the Middle East but was in
ruins until it was restored and reopened to worship three years ago.
Noting that the church was surrounded by many famous buildings and
artifacts in the city, Ayik said, “The representatives are evaluating the
buildings around the church.”
The Diyarbakir City Museum will display Armenian heritage and Armenian art.
“We are currently meeting with the municipality and we have signed a protocol
to open this part,” Ayik said.
“We will first collect artifacts before decorating the museum. The
decorations and the curation will be made according to the artifacts,” said
Ayik, noting that there would be information about the family, social and
cultural life of Armenians.
Letters from Lice
Very few artifacts have survived over the past 100 years, but Ayik said they
were able to collect letters from 1913 from a family who lived in the
province’s Lice district, as well as kitchen appliances, musical instruments
and other examples of writings from elsewhere.
During the last 100 years, many artifacts that belonged to Armenian
families have been lost, he said. “We are currently collecting artifacts to
display in the museum. This is the first time that something like this has
happened in Turkey, and many people are approaching this with suspicion.”
The written documents are very valuable because they reflect the lifestyle
of Armenians at the time, he said. “We have collected these documents from
Turkey and also from foreign countries. We have succeeded in collecting these
artifacts.”
Noting that there were also many financial documents, Ayik said these
revealed the debts and the trade that Armenians had in history.
Artifacts in Istanbul
The artifacts that have been collected have been sent to Istanbul to be
analyzed and researched.
Collecting the data and the artifacts has taken a long time, he said,
adding that the job was an important task that only professionals could do.
After analyzing the works, the artifact will be sent to the museum for
display.
Surp Giragos, which boasts seven altars, originally had an earthen roof,
although a new roof of wood was subsequently erected over the restored church.
It was closed in 1915-1916 before being returned to the local Armenian
community in 1960.
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