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History Revealed
An account of the August 2006 expedition to unveil the
Aghbradzor St. Grigor Church in Nagorno-Karabakh
Please click on the buttons below the photos (or on the photos themselves) to navigate through the pages.
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Page 1 of 11
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Walking through the lush forest, the noontime sun filtering through the high canopy of oaks and walnut trees, we came upon a hint of an ancient wall peeking through a thicket of wild berries and rosehip bushes. Skirting to the right of the thicket, we stood face to face with the ruins of Aghbradzor St. Grigor church, its walls standing, its roof caved in, shattered millennium-old khatchkars strewn about, hidden in the forests of the Kashatagh Region of Nagorno-Karabakh for centuries. We had finally reached our destination.
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The Aghbradzor St. Grigor Church peeks through the dense forest
Photographed Auguest 10, 2006
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The expedition that I’m about to recount, perhaps the most unique adventure I’ve undertaken in my life, began on the morning of 9 August 2006, in Yerevan, and lasted a total of three days. Anticipating a 7 am departure from Yerevan, my alarm was set to 6:20 am. Despite this, I found myself with only 5 minutes to enjoy my morning coffee and breakfast. Thirty minutes later, still waiting in the street, I was ruing the 1⁄4 cup of coffee I’d abandoned in haste. The delay, apparently, was caused by two no-shows to our expedition. Finally, just past 7:30 am, two Nivas, one old, one new, left Yerevan with five occupants, on an expedition to unveil the Aghbradzor St. Grigor church near Haytagh Village, on the border of the Kashatagh (Lachin) and New Shahumian (Kelbajar) regions of Nagorno-Karabakh. In the spirit of variety, the honor fell to Czech Airlines to carry me to my homeland this time around. Had I known of their draconian policies, this may not have been the case. They had packed all 30 passengers on an overnight flight into as few rows as possible, giving weight and balance of the aircraft as an excuse. No one could move to the empty rows, even if we spread out as homogeneously as possible, and this made sleeping nearly impossible on this last leg of my 22-hour journey from L.A. |
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Text and Photographs Copyright © 2006 Vahé Peroomian. All Rights Reserved
Duplication and use of photographs and text without permission strictly prohibited.
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