Monastery of St. John the Precursor
The Monastery of St. John the Precursor in Taron (modern Mush, Turkey) became one of the most illustrious religious sites in Armenia. At the turn of the twentieth century, Malachia Ormanian, the renowned Katholikos (head) of the Armenian Church, maintained that it was one of the three most important places of pilgrimage for Armenians. The monastery was destroyed in 1915, and by modern accounts only eight feet of the walls are visible. This photograph shows the monastery as it once stood. Because the Armenian name Karapet (Precursor) has no exact translation into English, the photographer, echoing a practice used by other Armenian immigrants of the period, wrote the monastery's name as "St. Charles Monastery."
The Monastery of St. John the Precursor in Taron (modern Mush, Turkey) became one of the most illustrious religious sites in Armenia. At the turn of the twentieth century, Malachia Ormanian, the renowned <em>Katholikos</em> (head) of the Armenian Church, maintained that it was one of the three most important places of pilgrimage for Armenians. The monastery was destroyed in 1915, and by modern accounts only eight feet of the walls are visible. This photograph shows the monastery as it once stood. Because the Armenian name Karapet (Precursor) has no exact translation into English, the photographer, echoing a practice used by other Armenian immigrants of the period, wrote the monastery's name as "St. Charles Monastery."