Trdat the Architect (, circa 940s – 1020) was the chief

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

of the Bagratid

kings of Armenia This is a list of the monarchs of Armenia, rulers of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia (336 BC – AD 428), the medieval Kingdom of Armenia (884–1045), various lesser Armenian kingdoms (908–1170), and finally the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (1 ...

, and most notable for his design of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

at Ani and his reconstruction of the dome of

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Work

Trdat was active in Armenia before and after his reconstruction of the

. In 961,

Ashot III Ashot III () was a king of Armenia, ruling the medieval kingdom of Bagratid Armenia from 952/53–77. Known as Ashot III the Merciful (Աշոտ Գ Ողորմած) and acknowledged by foreign rulers as the ''Shahanshah'' (king of kings) of ''Me ...

moved his

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

from

Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

to the great

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

of Ani where he assembled new

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

s and rebuilt the

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or serves a decorative purpose. There are various types of walls, including border barriers between countries, brick wal ...

s. The

Catholicosate A catholicosate () or catholicate is a particular ecclesiastical primacy, headed by a primate titled as a catholicos. Such regional primacies exist within various branches of Eastern Christianity, especially those of Oriental Orthodox tradition. ...

was moved to the Argina district in the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

s of Ani where Trdat completed the building of the Catholicosal palace and the Mother Cathedral of Ani. This

offers an example of a cruciform

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

within a rectangular plan. Trdat is also believed to have designed or supervised the construction of Surb Nshan (Holy Sign, completed in 991), the oldest structure at

Haghpat Monastery Haghpat Monastery, also known as Haghpatavank (), is a medieval Armenian monastery complex in Haghpat, Armenia, built between the 10th and 13th century. Location The location of Haghpat Monastery was chosen so that it overlooks the Debed River ...

After a great earthquake in 989 partly collapsed the dome of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

officials summoned Trdat to

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

to organize its repair. The rebuilt dome was completed by 994. According to contemporary Armenian historian Stepanos Taronetsi (Asoghik): While the circumstances in which he was asked to repair the dome are unknown,

Sirarpie Der Nersessian Sirarpie Der Nersessian (5 September 18965 July 1989) was an Armenian art historian, who specialized in Armenian and Byzantine studies. Der Nersessian was a renowned academic and a pioneer in Armenian art history. She taught at several institutio ...

suggested that the fact alone "is in itself a sufficient indication of his renown."

Richard Krautheimer Richard Krautheimer (6 July 1897 in Fürth (Franconia), Germany – 1 November 1994 in Rome, Italy) was a German art historian, architectural historian, Baroque scholar, and Byzantinist. Biography Krautheimer was born in a Jewish family in Germ ...

was somewhat dismissive of Trdat's role in Constantinople, suggesting that he "might have been summoned as a technician." Garbis Armen suggested that Trdat may have transferred earthquake-proofing innovations, especially features of the dome, found at the seventh century

Saint Hripsime Church Saint Hripsime Church is a seventh-century Armenian Apostolic church in the city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), Armenia. It was built in 618 by Catholicos Komitas over the tomb of Hripsime, a Roman virgin murdered by Tiridates III and a key ...

Vagharshapat Vagharshapat ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Armenia, 5th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border ...

such as ribs, narrow windows and short buttresses to stabilize the dome against lateral thrust, to Hagia Sophia.

References

External links

The Ani cathedral

Armenian Architecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trdat the Architect Ethnic Armenian architects Byzantine architects Byzantine people of Armenian descent 940s births 1020 deaths People from Bagratid Armenia 10th-century Armenian people 11th-century Armenian people 10th-century Byzantine people 11th-century Byzantine people 10th-century architects 11th-century architects Hagia Sophia

Work

References

Further reading

External links