{"id":2702,"date":"2026-06-01T15:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T15:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.caucasusheritage.arts.cornell.edu\/?p=2702"},"modified":"2026-10-01T15:16:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T15:16:51","slug":"threat-alert-holy-mother-of-god-church-boyuk-galadarasi-mets-shen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caucasusheritage.cornell.edu\/?p=2702","title":{"rendered":"THREAT ALERT: Holy Mother of God church (Boyuk Galadarasi\/Mets Shen)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Holy Mother of God church in the village of Boyuk Galadarasi\/Mets Shen (Shusha region) is under heightened threat. Using Planet imagery, CHW has documented earthmoving activity immediately to the east and north of the historic structure between Oct. 31, 2025, and May 14, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The activity is likely connected to construction in advance of new settlement. Last week, Azerbaijani <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/pu8674da\">media <\/a>reported the relocation of 14 formerly displaced Azerbaijani families (64 people) to Boyuk Galadarasi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.caucasusheritage.arts.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SH.027-0PhotoB-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.caucasusheritage.arts.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SH.027-0PhotoB-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"St. Astvatsatsin Interior Photo\" class=\"wp-image-2704\" srcset=\"https:\/\/caucasusheritage.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SH.027-0PhotoB-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/caucasusheritage.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SH.027-0PhotoB-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/caucasusheritage.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SH.027-0PhotoB-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/caucasusheritage.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SH.027-0PhotoB-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/caucasusheritage.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SH.027-0PhotoB-2048x1363.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dated to the 17th century based on architectural details, today the church is in disrepair. It was altered and used as a club in the Soviet era. Despite plastered walls, fragments of old elements (e.g. 12-13th c. cross stones, tombstones) are visible. Learn more about the church <a href=\"https:\/\/monumentwatch.org\/hy\/monument\/%d5%b7%d5%b8%d6%82%d5%b7%d5%ab%d5%ab-%d5%b7%d6%80%d5%bb%d5%a1%d5%b6%d5%ab-%d5%b4%d5%a5%d5%ae-%d5%b7%d5%a5%d5%b6%d5%ab-%d5%a3%d5%b5%d5%b8%d6%82%d5%b2%d5%a1%d5%b4%d5%ab%d5%bb%d5%b5%d5%a1%d5%b6-%d5%a5\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CHW calls on Azerbaijan to comply with the ICJ&#8217;s Dec. 2021 provisional measure. Authorities should work with the new residents of the village to preserve the historic Armenian church and the medieval and early modern traces embedded in its walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Holy Mother of God church in the village of Boyuk Galadarasi\/Mets Shen (Shusha region) is under heightened threat. Using Planet imagery, CHW has documented earthmoving activity immediately to the east and north of the historic structure between Oct. 31, 2025, and May 14, 2026. The activity is likely connected to construction in advance of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heritage-monitoring"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>THREAT ALERT: Holy Mother of God church (Boyuk Galadarasi\/Mets Shen) - Caucasus Heritage Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/caucasusheritage.cornell.edu\/?p=2702\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"THREAT ALERT: Holy Mother of God church (Boyuk Galadarasi\/Mets Shen) - Caucasus Heritage Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Holy Mother of God church in the village of Boyuk Galadarasi\/Mets Shen (Shusha region) is under heightened threat. Using Planet imagery, CHW has documented earthmoving activity immediately to the east and north of the historic structure between Oct. 31, 2025, and May 14, 2026. 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