Summary
Alexander S. Jalalyan
The 7th century church of Akori built by Catholicos Anastas Akoretsi in his native village is the kind of Armenian Chalcedonian building, which has a typical domed hall with a pair of free-standing struts in it. Its layout structure became a basis for a number of notable churches of 12-13th centuries built in North Armenia and Georgia.
Nowadays only the foundations of this Armenian Chalcedonian church (built in Masyatsotn region (gavar) of Ararat province) have remained, as the building was destroyed during the earthquake in 1840. Zakaryans, who have adopted chalcedony in the 12th century, had the opportunity to repeat forms and types of byzantine or Georgian architecture matching with rituals of their new religion, so they chose the structure of Akori church built by Anastas Akoretsi more than four hundred years ago, which proves the commitment of Armenian chalcedonians to ancestral traditions. It is significant that not only the structure of Akori church has been repeated, but also its name has been taken and put in the new environment as Akori (Աքորի).
Thus, the representatives of Zakaryan dynasty, which had adopted chalcedony, never lost their national identity staying true to Armenian architectural traditions of centuries and consistently applying them in their new structures in North Armenia.