DERSİM- Ergany Church, one of the great Armenian churches, fell into ruin due to neglect.

 

Ergany Church, located in Hozat district of Dersim, fell into ruin due to neglect after the last Armenian in the village died. According to the inscription found on its stone walls, the church was built in 975 by Prince Hancit Mxit in memory of the Virgin Mary. The inscription on the wall mentioned before reads, “This altar belongs to the mother of the Lord, who gave birth to Jesus Christ in Bethlehem with the veil under the shadow of the Holy Spirit, making his father happy and alive. I pray for you, Mxit'ar, your Divine Servant. May the great and our God rank me according to the children of Bethlehem, who were martyred for your holy birth. And I made this altar in 975.”

 

Carving and scraping techniques were used in the processing of the stones found in the structure of the church, which was built entirely of cut stones. The cross depictions called “khatchkar/khachkar” found in most of the Armenian churches were engraved on the stones in this church as well.

 

During the 1915 genocide of the Armenians, the last priest of the church was burned to death in the church. After the murder of the last priest, the name Ergany is changed to Ergen. After 1950, the name Ergen was changed to Geçimli. Then the roof of the church collapsed, and then its walls begin to collapse. Moreover, the walls of the church were destroyed by some people in the region. Names were graffitied on the walls of the ancient church which did it more damage.

 

Despite the acceptance of the application made by the Tunceli Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism to the Erzurum Cultural Heritage Preservation Board in 2012 to protect the church, no work has been done to protect or restore the church. 

 

 

MA / Cengiz Özbasar