Abstract:

An important settlement throughout history, Van Province is one of the few cultural centers of Eastern Anatolia. Our province, which is the cultural basin of the region, draws attention with the multitude of its historical works. The majority of the architectural works which were built around the Van Lake in the Middle Ages and later form religious structures. Among these religious structures, the monasteries had a significant place in Christian religious architecture. At this point, monastery establishments, which are religious structures that were built by Christian Armenians, are at the forefront with plastic ornaments as well as their architectural features . Despite the fact that these architectural works have been reviewed and published by many researchers, it is seen that no work has been done on the plastic decoration of the Lim Monastery on Adır Island in Van Lake, which constitutes the research subject. In this article, it is aimed to be introduced the plastic ornaments of Lim Monastery on Adır Island in Van Lake. The decoration program of the building complex was examined as Saint Georges Church and Jamatunu plastic ornaments. Plastic ornaments were found in the surviving part of the Saint Georges Church (at the point where they were joint the eastern wall of Jamatun) and the western side and inside of Saint Georges Jamatun. All of them are documented both visually and technically. The samples of examined plastic ornaments were also compared with similar decorative samples. This study is important to determine the reflection in the ornamentation area of the cultural interaction between the different loyal societies that had lived in the interiors for centuries. We also hope that our documentation and evaluation efforts will support the research in this area.

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