- Gagik I of Armenia
Gagik I (reigned
989 -1020 ) was a Bagratid King ofArmenia . His brotherSmbat II the Conqueror (reigned977 -989 ) preceded him.Gagik followed the footsteps of his predecessors in building churches and religious buildings in his capital
Ani . After his death, his elder son,Smbat III , was crowned king while his younger son, Ashot, rebelled against Smbat and proclaimed his independence in theKingdom of Lori-Joraget .One of Gagik's principal projects was the church of St. Gregory in Ani (1001-10), loosely modeled on
Zvartnots . DuringNikolai 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 theFirst 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 and the finder brought it to the museum by car.References
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