Online Lecture: Creating Christian Sacred Spaces: The Armenian Case (4th–7th Centuries)
The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Mashtot Chair of Armenian Studies at Harvard University are pleased to announce the first lecture in the 2025–2026 East of Byzantium lecture series.
November 4, 2025 | 12:00 PM (EST, UTC -5) | Zoom
Creating Christian Sacred Spaces: The Armenian Case (4th–7th Centuries)
Nazénie Garibian, Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts Matenadaran & State Academy of Fine Arts of Armenia
This lecture offers a case study on the creation of Christian sacred spaces in Armenia, from its official conversion at the beginning of the 4th century to the definitive establishment of Arab rule at the end of the 7th century, a complex and turbulent transitional period for all of Christendom, during which the gradual transformation of the religious landscape is carried out through the marking of both physical grounds and human minds, conceived as a single space of the Church. The lecture is structured around three main themes: the foundation of Armenian ecclesiastical institutions connected with the earliest Christian sanctuaries, the adoption in Armenia of sacred models originating from the Holy Land, particularly Jerusalem, and the development of major ecclesiastical complexes from the 4th to the 7th centuries, which served as the household and see of the Catholicoi of Armenia. Three selected examples – Ashtishat, Dvin, and Zvartnots – will be analyzed within the framework of a new urban concept: the ‘church-city’.
Nazénie Garibian is head of the Medieval Art Studies Department at the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts Matenadaran and Professor at the State Academy of Fine Arts of Armenia. Dr. Garibian specializes in the early Christian and early modern periods of Armenian and Caucasian history, art, and culture. Her research focuses primarily on the comparative analysis of written sources and the material heritage of architectural monuments and works of art, considered within the broader political, cultural, and religious context of their time. She has two books forthcoming in 2025 and 2026: one dedicated to the construction of Christian identity in Armenia, and the other, a collective monograph, devoted to the history and architecture of the seventh-century ecclesiastical complex of Zvartnots.
Advance registration required. Register: https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/
Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.
