Kanach Zham

Kanach Zham
Կանաչ Ժամ
The church in 2018, six years before its destruction in 2024.
Religion
AffiliationArmenian Apostolic Church
StatusDestroyed
Location
LocationShusha, Azerbaijan
Kanach Zham is located in Azerbaijan
Kanach Zham
Shown within Azerbaijan
Kanach Zham is located in Karabakh Economic Region
Kanach Zham
Kanach Zham (Karabakh Economic Region)
Geographic coordinates39°45′45″N 46°44′37″E / 39.76250°N 46.74361°E / 39.76250; 46.74361
Architecture
StyleArmenian

Saint John the Baptist Church (Armenian: Սուրբ Հովհաննես Մկրտիչ եկեղեցի), commonly known as Kanach Zham (Armenian: Կանաչ Ժամ), was an Armenian Apostolic church in Shusha (known to Armenians as Shushi) in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, located just uphill from the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral. Kanach Zham means "Green Chapel" in Armenian, which refers to the previously green domes of the church. The church is sometimes also called Gharabakhtsots, the name of the old wooden church that was previously located in the same place as Kanach Zham, and which was named as such in honor of the farmers of Nagorno-Karabakh who built it.[1]

The church was demolished by Azerbaijan between December 2023 and April 2024,[2] although the Azerbaijani government and the Baku Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church had previously maintained that the church, which suffered damage during the war, was still standing and undergoing "renovation".[3]

  1. ^ "Kanach Zham Church". 360GreatArmenia.am.
  2. ^ "DESTRUCTION ALERT: Between December 28, 2023 and April 4, 2024, St. John the Baptist church (S. Hovhannes Mkrtich), a 177 year old landmark in Shusha was destroyed, Azerbaijan's most egregious violation yet of a December 2021".
  3. ^ "Баку объяснил реставрационными работами демонтаж купола храма в Шуше". Caucasian Knot. 2021-05-05.