«Ներածություն «Հայերի ճարտարապետությունը և Եվրոպան» գրքին» - Յոզեֆ ՍՏՐԶԻԳՈՎՍԿԻ

Josef Strzygowski's Article as Introduction to His Book "The Architecture of the Armenians and Europe"

Josef Strzygowski's article, presented as an introduction to his book "The Architecture of the Armenians and Europe," is devoted to substantiating the scholarly and historical-cultural significance of ancient Armenian ecclesiastical architecture, as well as the methodology for its study within the framework of an independent discipline—the history of visual art.

Introduction and Methodology
The author defines his work as a continuation and second part of the study "Altai-Iran and the Great Migration of Peoples," noting a fundamental difference in the material: whereas the earlier work dealt with prehistoric monuments lacking written evidence, the researcher now has at his disposal buildings dated by inscriptions and documented in historical sources. Strzygowski insists on the necessity of an independent art-historical method, not reducible to a historical-philological or aesthetic approach, and emphasizes that systematic processing of Armenian monuments has not yet been undertaken.

The Key Thesis
The central thesis of the article consists in refuting the notion of the Armenians as cultural "barbarians" who borrowed their architecture from Rome or Byzantium. The author asserts:

the Armenians possessed their own architectural tradition, tracing back to the Central Asian-Iranian cultural sphere;
the domed type of church building took shape in Armenia earlier than it was influenced by Mediterranean Christian art;
it was precisely from Armenia that domed architecture spread to Europe, whereas the basilica represents a different, Mediterranean line of development.

The Cultural-Geographic Concept
Strzygowski develops the idea of an alternative, "northern" route of cultural connections between Iran, southern Russia, the Danube region, and Europe—via Armenia and the Black Sea region—setting it against the traditional orientation of European scholarship toward the Mediterranean. He calls for the restoration of this ancient Aryan land route as the foundation for future cultural exchange with Persia, India, and China.

Connection to the Present
Particular significance is attributed to the parallel between ancient Armenian cast-concrete technique and modern reinforced-concrete construction, which, in the author's view, renders the Armenian heritage relevant not only to the history of art but also to practical architecture.

The History of the Work's Preparation
The author describes in detail the genesis of the study—from his first journey to Armenia and the book "The Etchmiadzin Gospel" (1891) to the founding of a chair at the University of Vienna, and his collaboration with Levon Lisitsian and the architect Toros Toramanian, whose photographic materials formed the basis of the scholarly expedition. The contribution of Armenian scholarly consultants and of the Mekhitarist Order in Vienna is noted.

Conclusion
The key conclusion of the article consists in asserting the independent and determinative role of the Armenian architectural tradition in the formation of Christian building in both East and West, together with a call to revise the Eurocentric model of art history in favor of recognizing the significance of the Aryan-Iranian cultural route through the Caucasus and the Black Sea region.