After a 100-year gap, Armenian handmade carpets will again decorate the altars and entrance halls of Armenian Apostolic Churches.

The launch of this charity project initiated by Mikayel Minasyan, Armenia’s Ambassador to the Holy See, was given Monday at Gandzasar Monastery in the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR) (PHOTOS).

Rugs in many Armenian churches were factory-made and non-Armenian, and Minasyan had observed this during his pilgrimage to Gandzasar, two years ago.

“The place where I work [i.e. The Vatican] is known for two things: great attention to symbols and recollection,” the ambassador noted, in particular, at the blessing ceremony for three carpets in Gandzasar Monastery. “Now, the ‘Gandzasar carpet’ bears those two [things] in it.”

This charitable project aims to prepare handmade entrance rugs as well as altar and entrance hall carpets for Gandzasar, Dadivank, Ghazanchetsots, and Green Monastery (St. John the Baptist) churches in Artsakh.

The carpet-blessing ceremony at Gandzasar monastery also brought together NKR President Bako Sahakyan, businessmen, and MPs.

The other three churches that are included in the project also will soon have unique handmade rugs of their own.