Armenian Churches: Documents of a Past

Dr. Christina Maranci considers the important role Armenian church architecture can play in historical study. Through inscription, sculpture and painting, these structures reflect the social, economic, and political contexts in which they were built and can reveal much that is still unknown about the history of Asia Minor. With many Armenian churches in critical condition and on brink of collapse, Dr. Maranci argues for the importance of preserving these centuries-old monuments for their significance both to a modern culture and to historians.

Originally published July 2021.

About the speaker

Christina Maranci

Dr. Christina Maranci is Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University. Her work explores the art and culture of Armenia in all aspects, but with special emphasis on the late antique and medieval periods. Her books include The Art of Armenia (Oxford University Press, 2018), Vigilant Powers: Three Churches of Early Medieval Armenia (Brepols, 2015), and Medieval Armenian Architecture: Constructions of Race and Nation (Peeters, 2001). Her articles and essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Revue des études arméniennes, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Gesta, the Journal for the Society of Architectural Historians, the Art Bulletin, the Oxford Companion to Architecture, the Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages, Apollo, The Conversation, and Hyperallergic. She is also active in the preservation of Armenian cultural heritage, with a focus on the at-risk Armenian churches and monasteries in what is now Eastern Turkey.

Christina Maranci