Cross-stones in pile of garbage
A group of tourists visiting Haghartsin monastery assure that the monastery is not undergoing restoration, but construction.
"We got the impression that a new church is being built with a totally new plan," one of the tourists told "A1+" a week ago. According to the tourist, cross-stones and other stones are being destroyed, the walls of the churches have been smoothed and some inscriptions have disappeared.
"I am a painter and am well aware of the art of restoration. They had to at least enumerate the stones. There were nearly 15 square centimeters of cross-stones identified in the garbage can. In addition, anyone could have taken the cross-stones and left," one of the visitors told "A1+" and gave us photographs.
One of the tourists assured that the rocks inside the church had been cemented. "The workers had lit a fire in the church yard and were melting oil. In one of the churches, there was a rock-cutting device which left the interior in dust," he told "A1+".
The tourists were more surprised to see the state of the monastery near the church. According to eyewitnesses, instead of restoring the old residence of the monks, a totally new, state-of-the-art hotel construction was underway.
For purposes of clarification, "A1+" addressed author of the project for restoring the Haghartsin monastery and the newly built monastery Edward Grigoryan. He considered the news as groundless. According to him, "he always visits Haghartsin" and follows up on the construction. The architect also assured that none of the floors of the buildings is cemented and there are no cross-stones in the garbage cans.
Construction of the Haghartsin monastery began in April 2008. The monastery is under the supervision of the Dilijan national reserve and the construction is supervised by the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin.
Director of the restoration program Grigor Nalbandyan told "A1+" that he was involved in funding for the restoration and was not aware of what was going on at Haghartsin at the moment. Grigor Nalbandyan also said that restoration would end in the summer.
The Haghartsin monastery was built in the 10-13th centuries during the reign of the Bagratunis. It is currently being renovated by the "Hayastan" All-Armenian Fund with funding provided by Sheikh Sultan ben Mohammad al Kasimi of Sharzha who has granted nearly 5 million dollars.
