Tatev Monastery: Armenia's Silk Road Fortress of Faith

The Battle of Bash Abaran: Armenia's Other Last Stand

In May 1918, as the Ottoman army rolled toward Yerevan, three battles determined whether the Armenian republic would be born or strangled in its cradle. Sardarabad gets the glory, but Bash Abaran — the middle engagement, fought in a muddy mountain pass just thirty miles outside the city — was just as desperate. This episode follows the barely-armed Armenian militia, the Ottoman 9th Army under Yakub Shevki Pasha, and the strange cavalry charge that turned the tide. We also look at how Bash Abaran has been remembered (and sometimes forgotten) in Armenian history, and what it meant for the survival of the First Republic. #BashAbaran #1918 #FirstRepublicOfArmenia #OttomanEmpire #YakubShevkiPasha #DrastamatKanayan #ArmenianMilitia #MayHeroicBattle #CaucasusCampaign #WorldWarI #ArmenianGenocide #Sardarabad #Karakilisa #Yerevan #Transcaucasus #History #FexingoHistory #ArmenianHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Tatev Monastery: Armenia's Silk Road Fortress of Faith

High in the mountains of Syunik, the Tatev Monastery stands as both a spiritual sanctuary and a fortress of Armenian identity. This episode explores how a 9th-century monastic complex became a center of learning, a manuscript production hub, and a Silk Road beacon. We trace its foundation by the Bagratid dynasty, its role during the Zangezur resistance in the 1920s, and the survival of its famous Gavazan column — a swinging pillar that still baffles engineers. Along the way, we meet the monk Grigor Tatevatsi, whose 14th-century writings shaped Armenian theology, and we wade into the controversy over UNESCO's recognition of the site. For anyone who has followed the story of Armenia through its empires and its genocide, Tatev is a stone-and-mortar testament to endurance — a place where faith and nationhood are carved into the same cliff. #TatevMonastery #Syunik #Zangezur #Bagratid #GrigorTatevatsi #Gavazan #SilkRoad #ArmenianChurch #GrigorNarekatsi #MedievalArmenia #Manuscripts #UNESCO #Caucasus #History #FexingoHistory #Armenia #Monastery #Architecture Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Armenian Cross-Stones: Sacred Art of a Nation

Episode 172 of The Story of Armenia explores the ancient tradition of khachkars — the intricately carved cross-stones that have served as Armenia's spiritual and cultural markers for over a millennium. Lucas and Luna trace the origins of these stone masterpieces from their pre-Christian roots through their golden age in the medieval kingdom of Ani, examining how they survived Mongol invasions, Safavid destruction, and Soviet neglect. They focus on the unique iconography — the rosettes, grapevines, and geometric patterns that blend Christian symbolism with older Armenian motifs — and tell the story of the master carvers who passed their art down through generations. The episode also covers the threat khachkars faced during the 1918 Armenian retreat and the Nakhichevan genocide of the 1990s, when thousands were destroyed by Azerbaijani authorities. Finally, they highlight UNESCO's recognition of khachkar art as Intangible Cultural Heritage and the modern revival of the craft in Yerevan and Stepanakert. #Khachkar #Armenia #Caucasus #CrossStones #MedievalArt #UNESCO #Ani #Nakhichevan #Jugha #MovsesKhorenatsi #Bagratid #ChristianIconography #StoneCarving #HeritageDestruction #IntangibleHeritage #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Great Repatriation: Armenia's Post-WWII Soviet Homecoming

In 1945, the Soviet Union launched an unprecedented campaign to bring the Armenian diaspora home. Over the next three years, some 100,000 Armenians from Syria, Lebanon, France, the United States, and elsewhere boarded ships and trains bound for Soviet Armenia — their ancestral homeland, now under Stalinist rule. Known as the Nerkaght (repatriation), this state-sponsored project was a mix of national longing, Cold War geopolitics, and Soviet demographic engineering. The campaign was promoted by the Armenian Apostolic Church and diaspora organizations, but the reality that awaited repatriates was often grim: overcrowded housing, forced collectivization, and surveillance by the NKVD. This episode explores why so many left comfortable lives abroad, what they found when they arrived, and how the experience reshaped Armenian identity both inside and outside the Soviet Union. We look at key figures like Catholicos Gevorg VI, who lent moral authority to the campaign, and the little-known role of Soviet intelligence in encouraging return. The story raises uncomfortable questions about homeland, ideology, and the price of belonging. #Nerkaght #Repatriation #SovietArmenia #ArmenianDiaspora #Stalin #ColdWar #CatholicosGevorgVI #NKVD #Yerevan #ArmenianIdentity #PostWWII #ForcedMigration #SovietNationalityPolicy #BeirutArmenians #AleppoArmenians #OperationNemesis #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1918 Battle of Sardarabad: Armenia's Last Stand

In May 1918, as the Ottoman army advanced on Yerevan, a ragtag Armenian force — including fedayee fighters, villagers, and a few thousand regular troops — made a desperate stand at Sardarabad. This episode tells the story of that battle: the leadership of General Movses Silikyan and Aram Manukian, the role of the Dashnaktsutyun and the khumb units, the strategic miscalculations of the Ottoman command, and how a victory against overwhelming odds secured a brief window of independence for the First Republic of Armenia. We explore the battle's place in Armenian collective memory, its overshadowing by later tragedies, and the controversial decisions that followed. Drawing on recent scholarship by Richard Hovannisian and Raymond Kévorkian, as well as firsthand accounts from survivors, we reconstruct the three days that saved Armenia — and ask what might have happened if Sardarabad had fallen. #Sardarabad #Armenia #Ottoman #1918 #fedayee #AramManukian #MovsesSilikyan #Dashnaktsutyun #FirstRepublic #BattleOfSardarabad #Caucasus #WorldWarI #ArmenianGenocide #Yerevan #Transcaucasia #History #MilitaryHistory #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]