PanARMENIAN.Net - Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan has vowed to restore the iconic Ghazanchetsots Cathedral which was severely damaged in Azerbaijan's shelling on Thursday, October 8
"St. Ghazanchetsots Church in Shushi was targeted by terrorists. This manifestation of vandalism is against the laws of mankind and God. We will restore it (the church - Ed.)," Harutyunyan said.
The cathedral was consecrated in 1888 but was damaged during the March 1920 massacre of Armenians of the city by Azerbaijanis and experienced a decades-long decline, well into the Soviet period. During the Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijan used the cathedral as an armory to store missiles. It was restored in the aftermath of the war and reconsecrated in 1998. A landmark of Shushi and Karabakh, it has become an icon for the Karabakh Armenian cause. Standing 35 metres high, Ghazanchetsots is one of the largest Armenian churches in the world....
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