Gagik I was king of the Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia

Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia

The medieval Kingdom of Armenia, also known as Bagratid Armenia , was an independent state established by Ashot I Bagratuni in 885 following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab Umayyad and Abbasid rule...

. He succeeded his brother Smbat II

Smbat II

Smbat II King of Armenia , son of Ashot III and ruled from Ani. He fortified the city and began the construction of the Cathedral of Ani. Smbat II succeeded to Ashot III, and continued his father’s work. He ordered the construction of a wall around the city of Ani and built towers and...

 the Conqueror (r. 977

977

Year 977 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Saint Æthelwold of Winchester, Bishop of Winchester, rebuilds the western end of the Old Minster, Winchester, with twin towers and no apses.* German emperor Otto II grants Lower Lorraine, where modern-day Brussels is...

-989

989

Year 989 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Births :* Adémar de Chabannes, monk and historian * Gisela of Swabia, Holy Roman Empress...

). Armenia reached its zenith during the reign of Gagik.

Rule

Gagik followed the footsteps of his predecessors in building churches and religious buildings in his capital Ani

Ani

Ani is a ruined and uninhabited medieval Armenian city-site situated in the Turkish province of Kars, near the border with Armenia. It was once the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present day Armenia and eastern Turkey...

. After his death, his elder son, Hovhannes-Smbat

Hovhannes-Smbat

Hovhannes-Smbat was King of Ani . He was preceded by his father Gagik I of Ani but was eventually dethroned by Ashot IV Qadj .-Reign of Hovhannes-Smbat:...

, was crowned king while his younger son, Ashot, rebelled against Smbat and proclaimed his independence in the Kingdom of Lori-Dzoraget

Kingdom of Lori

Kingdom of Lori alternatively known as the Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget or Kingdom of Albania, was an Armenian kingdom formed during the breakup of Bagratuni Armenia. The kingdom encompassed territories of modern-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia....

.

Archaeological finds

One of Gagik's principal projects was the church of St. Gregory in Ani (1001–10), loosely modeled on Zvartnots

Zvartnots

Zvartnots |translit.]]: , meaning celestial angels) is a town located in the Armenian province of Armavir, about 10 km west from Yerevan, approximately half way to Ejmiatsin....

. During Nikolai Marr's excavation of its ruins in 1906, a large statue of King Gagik holding a model of his church was found in fragments. The statue was originally located in a niche high up in the north facade of the church. It was lost in uncertain circumstances at the end of the First World War. Only a few photographs record its appearance.

A surviving fragment of the statue is now in the Erzurum archeological museum. Exactly how, and when, it got there is unknown. According to the museum staff it was found somewhere in the vicinity of Erzurum

Erzurum

Erzurum is a city in Turkey. It is the largest city, the capital of Erzurum Province. The city is situated 1757 meters above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 361,235 in the 2000 census. .Erzurum, known as "The Rock" in NATO code, served as NATO's southeastern-most air force post during the...

and the finder brought it to the museum by car.

External links

• Sim, Steven. THE STATUE OF KING GAGIK. VirtualAni.org.