Aliyev Presents Talish Cultural House as Russian Church

Only the ignorant can refer to the "Savior" church in Talish as an Aghvan church. This was reported on the Facebook page of the Historical Environment Protection State Service of the Republic of Artsakh.

Talish village is located in the Martakert region and has remained under Azerbaijani control following the 44-day war. The materials discovered during land and construction works in the village and its surroundings, particularly stone tools and burial sites, indicate that people have inhabited this area since ancient times.

In the 5th century, the settlement near Horeka Monastery was named Tarij, and from the 13th century, the village was renamed Horeka. In 1822, under the Melik-Beglaryan, the village was renamed Talish. During this period, Mesrop Taghiyants referred to this village as Diza. Its comfortable and strategically significant location contributed to the settlement becoming the administrative center of the Gulistan principality.

The construction of the "Savior" church in the center of Talish was completed in 1894. According to Makara Barkhudaryants, it was built at the expense of the community. The monument stands out due to its exceptional size, featuring a large three-nave basilica. It is constructed from locally quarried and coarse brown stones. Inside, it is entirely well-crafted, with a roof made of metal sheets.

Built into the western part of the northern wall is the baptismal font. The dimensions of the monument are 21.75 meters in length and 13.1 meters in width. According to Barkhudaryants, the church originally had two entrances that opened from the northern and southern sides; however, the southern door was subsequently closed. The church has nine windows: three from the east, one from the west, two from the north, and three from the south.

The walls and roof of the church were destroyed during the first Artsakh war by Azerbaijani shelling but were restored in 1998.

“Only the ignorant can refer to the 'Savior' church, built in the 19th century in Talish, as an Aghvan church, as they have no basic knowledge of historical events. However, this is not limited to the nonsense of Aliyev Jr.; he has recently presented the Cultural House of Talish, whose construction started in 1957 and completed in 1959, as a Russian Orthodox church for some purpose, while no Russian church has ever existed in Talish. It was a 280-seat club where films were shown daily, and concerts and theatrical performances were often held. The club was in good condition before it was dismantled after the village was seized,” noted the Historical Environment Protection Service of Artsakh.