Rya Taza

Place in Aragatsotn, Armenia

Rya Taza Ռյա Թազա
View from the village
40°39′28″N 44°18′00″E / 40.65778°N 44.30000°E / 40.65778; 44.30000
Country	Armenia
Province	Aragatsotn
Municipality	Alagyaz
Population (2011)
• Total	531
Time zone	UTC+4

Rya Taza (Armenian: Ռյա Թազա) or Ria Taza (Kurdish: Ria Taza, lit. 'New way') is a village in the Alagyaz Municipality of the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia. It was formerly known as Kondakhsaz or known by locals as Qundesaz. Most residents of Rya Taza are Sîpkî Yezidis who migrated to the Aparan region from Kars in the 19th century.^[1]

The village is home to a ruined Armenian church built between the 10th and 13th centuries. It also contains an old cemetery with animal-shaped tombstones. In December 2020, a Yezidi cleric from the Lalish holy site located in Iraq blessed a newly built temple named after Shekhubekir (Şêxûbekir) which is open to the public.

Ruined St. Sarkis church
Cemetery featuring animal-shaped monuments
The entrance to the Yezidi temple
The Yezidi temple

References

^ "(PDF) On the Structure of the Yezidi Clan and Tribal System and its Terminology among the Yezidis of the Caucasus | Khanna Omarkhali - Academia.edu". p. 115.

Rya Taza at GEOnet Names Server
Report of the results of the 2001 Armenian Census, Statistical Committee of Armenia
Kiesling, Rediscovering Armenia, p. 22, available online at the US embassy to Armenia's website

Aragatsotn Province