Places of interest in the village Nngi

Nngi (Martuni district of Artsakh), situated on two hills in a horseshoe-shaped hollow has been famous for its potters and gardeners since ancient times.

Nngi's St.Astvatzatzin church, a three-nave basilica stands on four slender pylons, with large and small side-chapels, khachkars set into the walls, and of course inscriptions. According to the building inscription the cathedral was built in 1858, but the preserved traces of ancient monuments leave no room for doubts that it was built in the place of another, older church. The khachkar put under the bay in western facade is dated the summer of 1523. The tombstone in eastern wall belongs to 1777.

Church Nngijan is situated in the center of the settlement, on a cliff. It was built in 1895 by means of Khatunents Muki and Avetis Gabrielyan.

The destroyed church of Surb Lusavorich (Saint Еnlightener) is situated at the foot of mountain Tzarekh. Among its ruins attracts attention a khachkar, put, as informs the inscription in the summer of 1225. In front of Grigory the Еnlightener' chapel there is a square stone with a relief of a crow. The local inhabitants revere it as a sacred place and call it Agravakar (crow-stone).

In Nngian ravine meet numerous monuments of industrial character. Here have preserved traces of 22 mills. Nngian mill entered the history of Artsakh connected with a very important event. In the beginning of the 20th century in it functioned an underground typography, organized by one of the leaders of working movement of Transcaucasus and Russia, descending from Nngi Bogdan Knunyants. Nngi is known also as one of the centers of pottery. The potter work-shop is placed not far from the village's cemetery, in a fruit garden, by deposits of high-quality clay.

While speaking of ceramic objects of Nngi, it's impossible to forget about the masters who had created them, about the skillful successors of the ancient profession: Poghos Khachunts and his brothers Petros and Mughan. The original art of Nngian potters successfully continued Amirbar Sahakyan, the creations of who, created by traditional technology and decorated by classical national patterns, are well-known as in Artsakh, so beyond its borders.