St. Gr. Lusavorich Monastery was an Armenian monastery located in the village of
Shurud (
Julfa District
Julfa District () is one of the 7 districts of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. The district borders the districts of Ordubad, Babek, Shahbuz, as well as the Syunik Province of Armenia and the East Azerbaijan Province of Ira ...
) of the
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic
The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (, ) is a landlocked country, landlocked Enclave and exclave, exclave of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. The region covers Official portal of Nakhchivan Autonomous RepublicNakhchivan Autonomous Republi ...
of
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
.
The monastery was located 1.5–2 km northeast of the village.
[Ayvazyan, Argam. ''The Historical Monuments of Nakhichevan.'' Transl. Krikor H. Maksoudian. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1990, pp. 79–80.][Ayvazyan, Argam. ''Nakhijevani ISSH haykakan hushardzannery. Hamahavak tsutsak.'' Yerevan: Hayastan, 1986, p. 92.]
History
The founding date of the monastery is unknown. According to an Armenian inscription on the bell tower, the people of Shurud renovated the church in 1708; renovated again at the end of the 18th century and the middle of the 19th.
Architecture
At the late Soviet period, the monastery's auxiliary buildings, its school, and outer walls were in ruins. It was a basilica structure with a gabled roof, hall, five-sided apse, and two vestries, with a porch at the western facade. The bell tower bore an Armenian inscription. Ornamentation included decorative sculptural elements near the entrance and wall paintings of 17th or 18th century date.
Destruction
The monastery was razed to ground at some point between 1997 and June 15, 2006, as documented by investigation of the Caucasus Heritage Watch.
References
{{coord missing, Azerbaijan
Destroyed Armenian Apostolic monasteries in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic