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Film Attempts To Document Armenia's Influence On Europe

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  • Film Attempts To Document Armenia's Influence On Europe

    FILM ATTEMPTS TO DOCUMENT ARMENIA'S INFLUENCE ON EUROPE
    By Alin K. Gregorian

    Mirror-Spectator Staff
    May 31, 2012 11:27 am

    WATERTOWN - A new film by history buff Arsen Hakobyan of Armenia
    intends to put into perspective Armenia's influence on Europe, both
    in terms of export- ing Christianity, as well as exporting its church
    architecture and numerous saints.

    The film, shot on location in Armenia as well as in Georgia and
    several European countries, gives as examples churches in Europe
    that were built heavily influenced by the Armenian church structure -
    most perfectly and earliest executed in Echmiazdin and Bagaran. Among
    those churches is San Satiro in Milan, the origi- nal structure of
    which was based on the seventh-century Bagaran church.

    The DVD can be watched in Armenian, English, Russian or French.

    The film also spends time on the report- ed travels by Renaissance
    genius Leonardo DaVinci in Cilicia, specifically around the Taurus
    Mountains. According to his Codex Atlanticus, housed in the Ambrosian
    Library in Milan, he spent some time in Cilicia in the 1480s, where
    he witnessed an earthquake in Erzinga. He had reportedly gone there
    at the behest of the Sacred Sultan of Egypt. He sketched many faces,
    as well as the topog- raphy of the region.

    The filmmaker, Hakobyan, said that the film would be "for all the
    people who don't know Armenia and Armenian history." In particular,
    he said, Armenians sent many proselytizers to Europe to preach
    Christianity, some even long before the formal adoption of Christianity
    as the state religion in 301 AD.

    For example, St. Minas or San Miniato in Italian, preached the new
    religion in Tuscany and was beheaded in Florence on October 25, 250
    AD. As a result, a church was named for him, honoring him as the first
    Christian martyr of the city. The late saint is depicted in the fresco
    in the dome of the church, and referred to as "the king of Armenians."

    St. Minas was not alone; about 20 Armenians are counted among the
    saints in Italy.

    The Ararat Mountains are referred to the home of Noah, and as such,
    its pres- ence on Armenian soil gave the country a certain religious
    cache, "an altar of Christianity," according to the film.

    The traditional structure of the Armenian Church, four equidistant
    wings with a square on top and a dome on top of the square, is visible
    in several European churches.

    Another Armenian-style church is Germigny-des-Pres, built by Oton
    Matsaetsi, an Armenian architect in 806- 811, in Orleans, France.

    There are plenty of Armenian saints venerated by Catholics in the
    rest of Europe. For example, St. Servatius, or San Servato, who
    according to two books from the Middle Ages was born in Armenia,
    is recognized in the Netherlands and Belgium. There is a church in
    his name in Brussels and in fact he is considered the patron saint
    of the city of Maastricht.

    The film also refers to a couple of European peoples, including the
    Basques and Bavarians, as having Armenian roots. Currently, Hakobyan
    is working on a sequel, focusing further on the Armenian roots of
    some European nationalities.

    "From Ararat to Europe" will be shown on Sunday, June 3, at 4 p.m. at
    the Ararat-Eskijian Museum in Mission Hills, Calif.

    To purchase a copy of the film, write to Hakobyan at
    [email protected]



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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