Khachkar (Armenian - cross stone, a stone that bears a cross, a cross shaped stone etc.) is an absolutely essential component in the development of Christianity, education, arts, crafts and architecture in Armenia from 4th century onward. According to the evidence presented in the "History" by Agatangeghos, the first cross-bearing steles and temple appeared in the centre of the capital of Armenia as a result of a miracle (http://www.khachkar.am/en/origins/). The Khachkar, thus, aimed to give holiness to an open air, the secular territory, which was in interesting contrast to temple- a non-secular, holy territory of the temple.
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| Khachkar monument |
The stone for creating of Khachkar is chosen by the craftsman from the wide variety of stone mines. The process of carving was done by chisels, hammers, sharp pens, with the use of compass and rulers, however a free style sketching was also very common.
The main components of Khachkar are the central cross and other illuminated symbols, the decor elements (triangles, stairs, rosette etc.), birds and other figurative reliefs, cornice, inscriptions etc.
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| Khachkars with decorative and religious symbols |
Khachkar is a common model of Armenian world and the tradition of erecting the stele is still kept intact in modern Armenia. The main stimuli for Khachkar placement was an anticipation or a goal, which can be described as a holy attribute directed towards the future.
Along with two miraculous incidents of the appearance of Khachkar and the first temple, Mesrop Mashtoc, a renowned linguist and hymnologist, reported the third miracle which took place while he was preparing for a missionary life in a monastery. He had a dream, in which the Armenian alphabet was shown to him by a divine force. This was a powerful factor in reinforcement of Christianity and the uplifting of the national spirit. More Khachkars were erected bearing the newly scripted Armenian alphabet.
Throughout Armenian history, Khachkar played a role of a temple, a gravestone and of a book. The making of the stele, was considered a serious and prestigious profession, since most of the master Khachkar makers were well travelled and had a thorough understanding of not only sketching and carving, but also sculpting, construction and architecture. These craftsmen were referred to as sketchers, workers, compilers, inventors, decorators, painters, sculptors, masters, etc.
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| Khachkar motifs |
In the next chapters, I will be exploring the geometric structures and topological relationships of Khachkars in terms of relationships between the shapes, mathematical dependencies, closeness of components etc.
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