‘The Walls of the Byjni Church are Collapsing, We Will Not Forgive Ourselves, Your Holiness, Respond!’ – Naira Zohrabyan

Your Holiness, respond. The walls of the Byjni Church are collapsing, the ancient khachkars are on the brink of destruction. This was stated by Naira Zohrabyan, a member of the parliamentary faction of the Prosperous Armenia Party, on her Facebook page.

She notably wrote: “Your Holiness, respond. A few days ago, I addressed the deplorable condition of the Holy Mother of God Church in Byjni, built in 1031 by the Pahlavuni family. The church walls are crumbling, and the dome is completely overgrown with grass. The indescribably beautiful ancient khachkars are also on the verge of destruction.

Today, residents of Byjni have approached me again, with dozens of signatures, insisting that the ‘Jashots Book,’ representing a unique cultural and historical value, has been taken from the church to Echmiadzin and has not yet been returned. Furthermore, according to the people of Byjni, an equally valuable ancient curtain was also removed from the church and has yet to be returned.

I will write to you officially about how the ‘Jashots Book’ was taken from the church, Your Holiness. My only request at this moment is that on May 13, 2019, you visited the Holy Mother of God Church in Byjni and saw the crumbling walls. I am hopeful and want to be assured that you will take urgent action to save one of the monumental church buildings of Armenia—the Byjni Church—as the southern wall and the northern part of the church are completely collapsed. Otherwise, we will not forgive ourselves.”