Originally Posted by
Armenian Bishop
Just watch some Karabakh War Videos, and take note of the crosses painted on Armenian battle tanks, as well as the pious Christian sobriety of Armenians whom fought in the war. Decades of the USSR's atheistic ideology failed to extinguish Armenia's Christian foundation, despite anti-religious Soviet dogma channeled into society. More than 1,700 years of crosses are sprinkled throughout the Armenian Highlands, like wildflower seeds in meadows.
A multitude of cross-stone grave markers (also known as Katchkars) are a notable example -- Katchkars typically exhibit impressive sculpted crosses engraved into gravestones. It isn't easy to erase, and it serves as a landmark proof of the Armenian historical presence in the homeland. More sinister than neglected church grounds, during Soviet times, is Armenia's hostile neighbors (Turkey and Azerbaijan) whom have endeavored to destroy or erase religious artifacts, churches and monasteries, as documented by film and photographs, in an endeavor to erase Armenia's legacy to the Armenian Highlands (beyond the political boundaries of present day Armenia).