Photo archive

In 1967, Alpago Novello became the head of a project titled, "Research on Mediaeval Armenian and Georgian Architecture" at the Institute of Humanities of the Polytechnic in Milan. In the same year, Alpago Novello, Armen Manoukian, and Harutiun Kasangian started a study mission in Soviet Armenia, documenting 55 sites of Armenian Monumental Heritage. In the autumn of 1969, during the second mission, the group of architects accompanied by the photographer Giovanni Nogaro visited and documented 22 monuments also located within the Soviet borders. In 1970, three more expeditions involving different research groups broadened the horizons of the study to the regions of Historical Armenia with explorations in Anatolia and Cilicia. Between 1973 and 1976, Alpago Novello and Enzo Hybsch focused mainly on the heritage of Soviet Georgia and northern Iran.

The architect Armen Zarian played a key role in building collaborations between Italian and Soviet institutions and organising field research. In 1976, Alpago Novello founded the Armenian Culture Studies and Documentation Center (CSDCA), which moved from Milan in the official headquarters of Temanza’s loggia in Venice in 1992. During twenty-five years of research, the group organized international symposia on Armenian (five editions, 1975 - 1988) and Georgian art (three editions, 1974 -1986) in collaboration with the Academies of Science of Armenia and Georgia. They also brought photographic exhibitions to several American, European, and Middle Eastern Institutions the photo exhibitions, titled "Armenian Architecture 4th - 18th century" (Milan, 1968 – Erevan, 1996) and "Architettura georgiana" (Bergamo, 1974 - Reggio Emilia, 1976).
Finally, the documentation collected during these excursions gave birth to numerous publications on Armenian medieval architecture ("Documenti di Architettura armena Series", 23 numbers, 1868 - 1988; "Ricerca sull’architettura armena", 12, 1979 – 1986), where photographs play a central role. Herman Vahramian deserves most of the credit for the success of their publishing and exhibition projects.

Photography is the best medium to observe and analyze the historical landscape of the South Caucasus as it was documented by Alpago Novello research group. The scientific merit of the group's multilingual publications and the international interest shown in the exhibitions they curated proves the success of the scholar’s aim to inspire international interest in the topic.

Adriano Alpago Novello and Armen Zarian during a research trip in Armenia. © Centro Studi e Documentazione della Cultura Armena (CSDCA)

The images and photographs contained in this database are protected by copyright. The copyright owner permits their use for scientific research, study, non-profit educational purposes and personal use under the following licence: © Centro Studi e Documentazione della Cultura Armena.
Reproduction, modification and commercial use are not permitted.
To request and receive a high resolution version of the photographs in the database, please send an email to archivio@centrostudiarmeni.it with this form completed in full.