Negotiations are still underway regarding the preservation of the Tsitsernavank monastery in the Kashatagh region, which is to be handed over to Azerbaijan on 1 December. In an interview with NEWS.am, Archbishop Vrtanes, the spiritual leader of the Armed Forces, who these days is substituting for Archbishop Pargev, the head of the Artsakh diocese, said this.
“Serious negotiations are taking place; we are expressing our wishes to the Russian peacekeepers that Tsitsernavank be preserved. We are seeking ways to save the monastery, so that clergymen may visit, pray, and celebrate the Divine Liturgy,” he said.
It should be noted that after Karvachar passes to Azerbaijan, the Dadivank monastery will be guarded by the Russian peacekeepers. A Divine Liturgy was celebrated there the previous day by Armenian clergymen, attended by faithful who had departed from Stepanakert. They entered Karvachar under the escort of the Russian peacekeepers.
It should be noted that in the Kashatagh region there are about three dozen monasteries, churches, and historical monuments.
Among the monasteries, the most famous is Tsitsernavank, built in the 4th century, which was thoroughly reconstructed after the liberation. Also well preserved are a number of churches built in the 17th century — the Holy Minas of Haki, the Holy Mother of God of Mirik, the Holy Stepanos of Hoghants, the Holy Kevork of Herik, and the sanctuaries of Shalua, Stunis, Arakhish, and Mazra.
