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Akdamar Island (also known as Aghtamar, Ahktamar, and Aght'amar; Armenian: Աղթամար) is a small island in Lake Van in Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, about 0.7 square km. in size, situated about 3km from the shoreline. Akdamar is the current Turkish spelling of the island's name, but the original "Aghtamar" pronunciation is sometimes still used among the Kurds who live in the area (there is no "gh" sound in Turkish, but there is in Kurdish). At the western end of the island a hard, grey, limestone cliff rises 80 m. about the waters (1,912 m above sea level). The island declines to the east to a level site where a spring provides ample water. It is the home to a 10th century Armenian church, known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross (915-921), and was the seat of an Armenian Catholicos from 1116 to 1895.

Contents 1 Legend 2 History 3 The Cathedral 4 References 4.1 Footnotes 5 External links

The name of the Akhtamar Island is often attributed to an ancient Armenian legend. According to the tale, an Armenian princess named Tamar lived on the island and was in love with a commoner. This boy would swim from the mainland to the island each night, guided by a light she lit for him. Her father learned of the boy's visits. One night, he went to her as she waited for her love. He smashed her light, leaving the boy in the middle of the lake without an idea of which direction to swim. They say his dying cries of "Akh, Tamar" (Oh, Tamar) can be heard to this day at night. The legend is the inspiration for a famous poem by Hovhannes Tumanyan.

During his reign, King Gagik I (908-943/944) of the kingdom of Vaspurakan chose to reside on Akdamar Island, where he founded a settlement; erected a large, square palace; laid out streets, gardens, and orchards; and planted trees and designed areas of recreation for himself and his court. The only surviving structure from that period is the Palatine Cathedral of the Holy Cross. It was built of pink sandstone by the architect monk Manuel during the years 915-921, with an interior measuring 14.80m by 11.5m and the dome reaching 20.40m above ground. In later centuries, and until 1915, it formed part of a monastic complex, the ruins of which can still be seen to the south of the church.

Between 1116 and 1895 Akdamar Island was the location of the Armenian Catholicosate of Aghtamar. Khachatur III, who died in 1895, was the last Catholicos of Aghtamar.^[1]

In 1915, during the Armenian Genocide, the monks of Aghtamar were massacred, the cathedral looted, and the monastic buildings destroyed.^[2]

The architecture of the church is based on a form that had been developed in Armenia several centuries earlier; the best-known example being that of the 7th century St. Hripsime church in Etchmiadzin, incorporating a dome with a conical roof. The unique importance of the Aghtamar church comes from the extensive array of bas-relief carving of mostly biblical scenes that adorn its external walls. The meanings of these reliefs have been the subject of much and varied interpretation. Not all of this speculation has been produced in good faith - for example, Turkish sources stress alleged Islamic and Turkic influences behind the content of the reliefs and minimise native Armenian influences. Some scholars^[3] assert that the friezes parallel contemporary motifs found in Ummayyad art - such as a turbaned prince, Arab styles of dress, wine imagery, and images of royalty Sassanian imagery is also present (Griffins, for example).^[3]

Between May 2005 and October 2006, the church underwent a 1.5 million USD restoration program financed by the Turkish Ministry of Culture. It officially re-opened as a museum on 29 March 2007 in a ceremony attended by the Turkish Minister of Culture, government officials, ambassadors of several countries, Patriach Mesrob II (spiritual leader of the Armenian Orthodox community of Turkey), a delegation from the Republic of Armenia headed by the Deputy to the Armenian Minister of Culture, and a large group of journalists from many news organizations around the world.^[4] Various Armenian religious leaders including Catholicoi Karekin II of All Armenians and Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia both boycotted the event due to the church being reopened as a secular museum. Controversy still surrounds the issue of whether a cross, which was on top of the dome until 1915, should be replaced. Armenians say that the renovation will not be finished until the cross is placed to complete it, and that they should have the ability to offer a mass there at least once a year, while Turkish officials say it would not be appropriate to have a cross on or hold a mass in what is now a secular museum.

• Sirarpie Der Nersessian and H. Vahramian, Documents of Armenian Architecture, Volume 8, Aght'amar, Milan, 1974.
• J. G. Davis, Medieval Armenian Art and Architecture: The Church of the Holy Cross, Aght'amar, London, 1991.
• Mnatsakanian, Stepan; Rainer K. Lampinen (1986). in Varteres Karagozian: Aghtamar. Finland: Editions Erebouni. LCC 86-80509. 
• Sirarpie Der Nersessian, Aght'amar, Church of the Holy Cross, Cambridge, Mass., 1964.

• Information about Akdamar Island from Sacred Sites, Places of Peace and Power
• The Surp Hach (Saint Cross) church on Akhtamar Island
• A personal photo gallery, by Andrys Basten
• Another personal photo gallery, by Dick Osseman
• A detailed study of the reliefs on the east facade of the Holy Cross church on Aghtamar island
• Observations and comments on the 2005-2006 restoration of the church

Coordinates: 38°20′29.96″N, 43°02′8.58″E