Photos: Akdamar Island, Lake Van Photo Gallery by Andrys Basten at pbase.com

Photos: Akdamar Island, Lake Van

Also known as Ahktamar, Aghtamar, and Aght'Amar (the latter two, considered by Armenians the correct spelling), the island's main attraction, other than its stunning Lake Van locale, is the 10th century Armenian "Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross."
It was built by Bishop Manuel under King Gagik I, in 915-921 A.D.

The reddish cut stone (from volcanic rock) of the church seen against the
vivid blue waters of Lake Van makes an instant impression.
But it's the stone reliefs, of biblical scenes on the exterior walls, that intrigue the most. Not restored and quite weathered, they've survived centuries, the immediacy intact.
(Unfortunately, I lost my backup camera battery, so I have only a couple of shots of those.)

Steve, a commenter below, points us to an excellent site which has detailed information for each figure on the East Facade and which has extraordinary in-depth info and photos for each clickable "key" on its map page, from the important Armenian perspective for these sites.

( For full Screen: If using a PC, press/toggle F11. If using a Mac, press/toggle apple/command-b )

After Diyarbakir, stopped for lunch at a diner here on the way to Van (the city).	From the car, not far from Ahlat in Bitlis province. Ahlat has the largest Selcuk cemetary in the Muslim world.	A small tombstone in a courtyard at Ahlat's Selcuk-period cemetery "Selcuk" is also often spelled "Seljuk" - which is much closer to the sound.	On the way to Akdamar Island, looking back
A light rainbow on the right as we approach the island	Looking back again	There's the old Church of the Holy Cross	The view from the path leading to the church
And there it is.	The higher stones are smaller than the lower ones, the resulting lighter walls more resistant to earthquakes.	Back side of church, with figure at right. Here's more info about Akdamar	Idyllic. Maxwell Parrish might have visited :-)
Tower and reliefs	Closer up I don't know who's represented here. Others are more obvious.	Thanks to Guest; This is "Surp Krikor" (equivalent to St. Gregory?)	The interiors have been hurt by time and vandalism.
On this side, images from the New and Old Testaments	Jesus on the left, Adam and Eve on the right (Adam seems to note passersby).	Scene from the back side of the church	On the way back
	The sky was looking pretty dramatic.	And more so.	The last gasp

comment |

Andrys Basten		10-Mar-2011 01:35
As mentioned last time, this is a =photo= and travel site and I've already included political opinions from both sides below so that both sides can be read. Political discussions extending beyond what you see already here are available on many other sites and it's a good idea to visit those sites to discuss them. No more political arguments will be posted here beyond what already exists and is visible so you can see the two sides It's very sad, as is too much of history everywhere. 'Rob' had a point of info I do want to include: === ' Van Lake is part of a region known as the "Garden of Eden." The name, when dissected has significant meaning. "Akh" translates to an expressin of longing for someone, (ex. "Oooh" in English), and "Tamar" is the name of a woman for whom this island was built). The story is that the waves echo this "akhh" noise as they crash against the island, and are calling for "Tamar." ' ===

Atam izindeyiz		02-Feb-2007 15:56
Thank you very much Andrys

Atam izindeyiz		02-Feb-2007 08:27
Ahh. please. Aren't Simon's explanations polytical? How did he use a word such as genocide? There is not a court decision in that subject. They can't judge Turkey. Parliamentary decisions about history aren't suitable? Cause they reflect civil polytic idea. For instance, in France There are an important Armenian elector society. 300.000 voter. French politicians are as clever as everyone. Unfortunately our messages don't publish by you. Despite you said thanks for everyone's thougts, you look like more tendentious by tending to Armenian' comments. Cause their words are visible in this site. But mine are not.

Andrys Basten		01-Feb-2007 21:20
An earlier note of mine disappeared. Just want to explain again that this is a photo site for viewers, with a tourist focus. The subject discussed below is an emotional one. Unfortunately, with this world, 'history' and names are given by those who are in control, just as U.S. Americans have renamed sites which were lived in by natives earlier, and European areas are named by those in political control for the moment. All is fluid. Everywhere in the world -- with a lot of sadness for those caught up in it. Comments on photos (corrections, additional info, enjoyment or not) may be added to the mix below, but political discussions aren't the focus of this particular photo-site. Thanks for everyone's thoughts, including Atam Izindeyiz today, but the thread has been essentially closed for further political back-and-forth (it's not a bulletin board). I do appreciate the thoughts on all sides of this issue.

Atam izindeyiz		01-Feb-2007 12:45
This kind of comments had not to done by investigating two or three books. a few words to Armenians: confession your mendacious, to become clean rancour and hate in your heart. Make peace with yourselves. In addition to that East of Türkiye has never been Armenian. Only in these regions Armenians was living as minority under Turkish rulers. A lot of Turkish dynasty dominated in these landings for years. There was a few tiny Armenian princedom. As a result East of Turkey will be never West Armenian. Leave your nonsense goal-target. If you are right Romans must have Germania, Britania and Galya (France). Then America belongs to Red Ýndians. American domestics Inka, Mayas and Azteks have South and Middle America. These are nonsense. 1915 events was never genocide. That events was very sadly. But it wasn't genocide. Armenians guys set up assassination to II. Abdülhamit in Ýstanbul with bomb. Ýt was used firstly a bomb in a assassination by Armenian. They did incursion to Ottoman Bank. Armenian gangs helped to Russian army against own country's soldiers - Ottoman army - to libarate. They banged from behind. Armenians killed thousands of people in 1915-1918 savagely in Erzurum, Kars, Aðrý, Iðdýr. Between 1975-1985 Armenian terror murdered Turkish elit diplomatists in France, USA etc. About 40 people. Leave your rancour.

Steve		03-Apr-2006 15:38
Hi again Andrys The url of the website I mentioned earlier is now www.virtualani.org/aghtamar/ The person depicted in the "who is this?" photo is an ancestor of king Gagik who commissioned the church, he is a prince named Isaac who was martyred in the year 787 during the Arab invasions of Armenia.

Armenian		25-Nov-2005 15:48
Thank you for this pics!

Simon of Urfa		26-Sep-2005 21:46
The island has been called Aghtamar (Akhtamar) for a few thousands years. In 1915, Enver Pasha, one of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide, declared the following order after the Armenians were deported: It has been decided that provinces, districts, towns, villages, mountains and rivers, which arenamed in languages belonging to Non-Muslim nations such as Armenian, Greek or Bulgarian, will be translated into Turkish. ... In order to benefit from this suitable moment, this aim should be achieved in due course. More than 12,000 non-Turkish name were "converted" in Turkey after 1920s, but these were ratified after "The Special Comission of Name Change" was established in 1956. As a result of this, thousands of Armenian names were changed, including the name "Armenia" itself, which was understood for the region that is the eastern Turkey now for at least 2500 years. Even universally known Armenian name, such as Mount Ararat, were changed. Ararat is called Agri Dag today. Very few Armenian names were kept, because even the Muslim inhabitants could not forget the Armenian names. But this was done in a very tricky way: the Armenian names were rewritten in a way that these words would mean something in Turkish. Ani, united Armenia's last capital, was called ANI (Ane) which in Turkish means "recolletcion" and Akhtamar (Aghtamar) was written as "Akdamar," which in Turkish means "White vein." These acts of cultural vandalisms were done with genocidal intent.

George Marshall		26-Sep-2005 21:22
Akdamar in Turkish means "white vein." During the conversion and distortion of Armenian names in Turkey, some names, were simply "translated," such as this one. Calling the island Akdamar is incorrect. It is Agh'tamat or Akhtamar.

Kevork Petrosyan		20-Jun-2005 08:52
Hi; very nice images from Akdamar. Regards.

Andrys Basten		24-Dec-2004 08:03
Steve, thanks for a fascinating page, which I've now linked. If you see one that has explanations for the other figures too, please let me know. Re the spelling, I've used the most common spelling but have now added the two preferred Armenian spellings for this famous site that is Armenian in origin! and have also added a link to a forum discussion of the spelling and actual probable meaning of the name. Thanks very much for the good info.

Steve		22-Dec-2004 22:18
Nice photos, Andrys. But the island is both spelt and pronounced Agh'tamar, not Akdamar (which is an invented "Turkified" name imposed from Ankara). See www.virtualani.freeserve.co.uk/aghtamar for a full interpretation of all the reliefs on the east facade.

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