Cathedral of Mren

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.

Cathedral of Mren
Mren in the early 20th century
Religion
Affiliation	Armenian Apostolic Church
Location
Location	Digor District
Shown within Turkey
Geographic coordinates	40.242125°N 43.662953°E / 40.242125; 43.662953
Architecture
Type	Three-nave basilica with dome
Style	Armenian
Groundbreaking	631
Completed	639

Architecture

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
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  Collapsed side aisle
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  Portal with relief
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  Facade with khachkars
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  Lintel with relief
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  Side aisle
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  Apse

See also

• 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

• 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

• The Cathedral of Mren on VirtualAni.org
• The Cathedral of Mren 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