Kanach Zham
{{Short description|Armenian Apostolic church in Shusha, Azerbaijan}}
{{Infobox religious building
| building_name = Kanach Zham
| native_name = Կանաչ Ժամ
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| image = Kanach Zham2018-13.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = The church in 2018, six years before its destruction in 2024.
| map_type = Azerbaijan#Karabakh
| map_size = 225
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| location = Shusha, Azerbaijan
| coordinates = {{coord|39|45|45|N|46|44|37|E|region:AZ-SUS_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki|display=inline,title}}
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| religious_affiliation = Armenian Apostolic Church
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| functional_status = Destroyed
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| architecture_style = Armenian
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Saint John the Baptist Church ({{Langx|hy|Սուրբ Հովհաննես Մկրտիչ եկեղեցի}}), commonly known as Kanach Zham ({{langx|hy|Կանաչ Ժամ}}), was an Armenian Apostolic church in Shusha (known to Armenians as Shushi) in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, located just uphill from the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral. Kanach Zham means "Green Chapel" in Armenian, which refers to the previously green domes of the church. The church is sometimes also called Gharabakhtsots, the name of the old wooden church that was previously located in the same place as Kanach Zham, and which was named as such in honor of the farmers of Nagorno-Karabakh who built it.{{cite web|url=http://www.360greatarmenia.am/kanach-zham-church|title=Kanach Zham Church|website=360GreatArmenia.am|access-date=2021-03-18|archive-date=2017-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522093330/http://www.360greatarmenia.am/kanach-zham-church|url-status=dead}}
The church was demolished by Azerbaijan between December 2023 and April 2024,{{Cite news |title=DESTRUCTION ALERT: Between December 28, 2023 and April 4, 2024, St. John the Baptist church (S. Hovhannes Mkrtich), a 177 year old landmark in Shusha was destroyed, Azerbaijan’s most egregious violation yet of a December 2021 |url=https://twitter.com/CaucasusHW/status/1781024819296833764}} although the Azerbaijani government and the Baku Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church had previously maintained that the church, which suffered damage during the war, was still standing and undergoing "renovation".{{cite web|url=https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/363584/|title=Баку объяснил реставрационными работами демонтаж купола храма в Шуше|website=Caucasian Knot|date=2021-05-05}}
History
The church was built in 1818 in the same place as the former Gharabakhtsots wooden church.{{Cite web |title=Hovhannes Mkrtich Church of Shushi or Kanach Zham (Green Church) |url=https://monumentwatch.org/monument/hovhannes-mkrtich-church-of-shushi-or-kanach-zham-green-church/ |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=Monument Watch |language=en-US}} The church is built according to a unique cruciform scheme, with the eastern facade of the church being adjacent to the western part of the chapel, and the tall dome of the church and its chapel can both be seen clearly from a distance across the town. The interior of the church also has some unique architectural features. Above the entrance to the church is an inscription from 1847 that says "Babayan Stepanos Hovhannes. In the memory of his deceased brother Mkrtych."{{cite web|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/january-web-only/armenian-churches-artsakh-nagorno-karabakh-azerbaijan-photo.html|title=6 Christian Sites Armenia Fears It Has Lost to Azerbaijan|website=Christianity Today|date=2021-01-05}}
Damage
Around November 2020, both Armenian and foreign sources stated that the towers of the church had been destroyed by Azerbaijan after the capture of the town in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, referring to pictures and a video circulating online of the partially destroyed church.{{cite web|url=https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/287898/Azeris_destroy_domes_of_Armenian_church_in_Karabakhs_Shushi|title=Azeris destroy domes of Armenian church in Karabakh's Shushi.|website=PanArmenian.Net|date=2020-11-20}}{{cite web|url=https://fip.am/en/13788|title=The Kanach Zham Church in Shushi has been partially destroyed.|first=Hovhannes|last=Nazaretyan|website=Fact Investigation Platform (FIP)|date=2020-11-19}}{{Cite news | url = https://www.br.de/nachrichten/kultur/bergkarabach-wenn-der-waffenstillstand-keinen-frieden-bringt,SITQh7N | title = Nagorno-Karabakh: If the truce does not bring peace (in German)}} The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church condemned the damage in a statement in November.{{cite web|url=https://en.armradio.am/2020/11/19/armenian-st-john-mkrtich-church-in-shushi-vandalized/|title=Armenian St. John the Baptist church in Shushi vandalized.|author=Siranush Ghazanchyan|website=Public Radio of Armenia (Armradio)|date=2020-11-19}}
Satellite images taken on February 15, 2021, showed the church had suffered significant damage in the time since it had come under Azerbaijani rule. This received coverage in Armenian and international press outlets, including in Le Monde.{{Cite news | url = https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2021/04/27/apres-la-guerre-au-haut-karabakh-le-patrimoine-culturel-armenien-menace_6078220_3210.html | title = After the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian cultural heritage threatened (in French)}}{{cite web|url=https://emerging-europe.com/news/conflict-in-nagorno-karabakh-is-far-from-over/|title=Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is far from over|website=emerging-europe.com|date=2021-05-05}}{{cite web|url=https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2021/03/17/church-Shushi/2470357|title=Azeris destroy Armenian church in Karabakh's Shushi|website=panorama.am|date=2021-03-17}} The destruction of the church can be seen on Google Maps in April 2021.[https://www.google.com/maps/place/39%C2%B045'45.2%22N+46%C2%B044'36.8%22E/@39.7624892,46.7433277,154m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d39.762548!4d46.743549 Կանաչ Ժամ եկեղեցի], Google Maps, accessed on 23 April 2021. An Azerbaijani news agency denied Kanach Zham's destruction, while also denying the church's Armenian heritage (Azerbaijani sources ascribe a Russian provenance to the church, claiming that it was modified according to an "Armenianized" style in the 1840s.). It stated that the church, which had been severely damaged during the war, was undergoing renovation and its dome was being rebuilt.{{cite web|url=https://www.turan.az/ext/news/2021/3/free/Culture/ru/2385.htm/001|title=Православному храму в Шуше возвращается первоначальный облик|website=Turan Information Agency|date=2021-03-19|access-date=2021-04-19|archive-date=2021-04-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419004714/https://www.turan.az/ext/news/2021/3/free/Culture/ru/2385.htm/001|url-status=dead}} The Russian Orthodox Church Eparchy of Baku also claims that the church is to be renovated. Video footage from a BBC Russian reporter who visited Shusha in September 2021 showed that the church was undergoing ostensible renovation.{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/media-58671217|title=Город-призрак. Как живет Шуша после войны|website=BBC Russian|date=2021-09-24|access-date=2021-09-25}}
On April 18, 2024, Caucasus Heritage Watch, a watchdog group made up of researchers from Purdue and Cornell, reported using satellite imagery that the church had been fully destroyed.
Gallery
File:Kanach Zham2018-8.jpg|Exterior pre-2020 war
File:Kanach Jam of Shushi 6.JPG|Interior pre-2020 war
File:Սբ. Հովհաննես Մկրտիչ, «Կանաչ ժամ» 11.jpg|Ceiling & dome pre-2020 war
File:Kanach Zham after the 2020 war, in September 2022.jpg|Exterior in September 2022
File:Kanach Zham in September 2022 13.jpg|Interior in September 2022
References
{{Commons}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Contemporary Armenian Churches}}
Category:Churches completed in 1818
Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 2024
Category:Destroyed Armenian churches in Azerbaijan
Category:19th-century religious buildings and structures in Azerbaijan