Artsakh
Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, built between in 1887 by Armenians who emigrated from the Persian Ghazanchi village to Shushi. They were only able to raise funds for its construction thanks to their unique talent in making cauldrons (Ghazan in Armenian).
During a liturgy, the priest must receive absolution from another priest, but during its construction the small population of Shushi had only one priest to serve the churches needs. To solve this problem, the architects built an underground room designed to reverberate one's voice directly back to them. Thus, before conducting a liturgy, the priest would receive absolution, hearing his own voice saying, “Let my ears hear what my lips utter”.
After being damaged during the March 1920 massacre of Armenians of Shushi by Azerbaijan, the cathedral then experienced a decades-long decline under Soviet rule. During the First Artsakh War, Azerbaijan used the cathedral as an armory, where hundreds of missiles were stored. It was restored in the aftermath of the war and reconsecrated in 1998. A landmark of Shushi and Artsakh, it has become an icon for the Artsakhi-Armenian cause. Even today, soldiers often get blessings here before leaving to the front.
Surrounded by angels with horns in their hands that symbolize the last resurrection in the Bible. When judgment day comes the angels will blow their trumpets, the dead will resurrect, and the living will die and resurrect again. The angels are standing on the bell tower, as it symbolizes the world's horn that calls all the people to a service. The angels that you see today are newly made, as the older ones were destroyed during Azerbaijani rule. These angels are considered symbols of Shushi.
Artsakh Արցախ