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Rhipsime Cathedral (A.D. 618) honors St. Rhipsime, an early Christian maiden who was martyred in the third century. (photo: Judith Männ) -
Newlyweds receive a blessing. (photo: Judith Männ) -
An Armenian Apostolic liturgy. (photo: Judith Männ) -
Youths at Etchmiadzin, the center of Armenian Christianity. Etchmiadzin, which means “the descent of the only begotten,” was established in the fourth century by St. Gregory the Illuminator. (photo: Judith Männ) -
A priest blesses a lamb before it is sacrificed. Madagh, as the ritual is called, may take place after a child has been chrismated, after a wedding, or upon the return of a family member to the community.
The lamb, or chicken if the benefactor is poor, is slaughtered and prepared by the family. They then share the meal with the poor. Both the lamb and the poor symbolize Christ. (photo: Judith Männ) -
The porch at Gayane Cathedral, which dates from A.D. 630. The shrine commemorates Rhipsime’s martyred friend, Gayane. The cathedral is an excellent example of Armenian architecture. Art historians credit Armenia’s early medieval architects for inventing the pendentive, a device that supports a dome over a square space (typically Byzantine), and creating the blind arch, a decorative device used in Romanesque and Gothic churches. (photo: Judith Männ) -
Friends gather outside the Gayane Cathedral. (photo: Judith Männ)
Armenia is in a state of siege. The war with Azerbaijan over Naghorno Karabakh, an Armenian enclave situated in Azerbaijan, the blockade imposed by Turkey, and the violent civil war in neighboring Georgia have exhausted a nation still recuperating from the tragedies of communism and the devastating earthquake in December 1988.
Last April photographer Judith Mann traveled to Armenia and captured many images of its historic sites and heroic people.
“In ways I can hardly understand, the Armenians are a people of incredible tenacity,” the Oregon-based photographer said recently.
“Their sense of time spans centuries. St. Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint of Armenia, is as alive today as he was in the early fourth century. The Armenian people’s attachment to their mythology helps them to cope; it gives them the courage to carry on – they have been through this before.”