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Throne of King Senekerim-Hovhannes of Vaspurakan, Photo 1880s.

Armenian monks and altar boys pose with the historic and lovingly cared-for throne of King Senekerim-Hovhannes of Vaspurakan sometime in the 1880s.

They are at the Varagavank Monastery in Van at the time of the Ottoman Empire. King Senekerim-Hovhannes Artsruni was the sixth and last King of Vaspurakan from the Artsruni dynasty.

He surrendered his kingdom which was under attack from Turkish tribes to Byzantine Emperor Basil II (1021-22).

He was compensated with large land holdings within the Empire and the governorship of Cappadocia. Vaspurakan/Vasbouragan was the first and largest province of Greater Armenia which had become an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages.

by Mano Chil

Vigen Avetisyan

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