What are those Giant Black Chickens called?

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raising turkeys
Image by james_gordon_losangeles
Saint Hovannas Monastey, or Hovhannavank (Armenian: Surb Hovhannes Vank) is an Armenian Apostolic Church monastery located in the village of Ohanavan in the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia. It is situated atop a steep gorge carved by the Kasagh river. The monastery’s title originates from the combination of the name Hovhan (Armenian for Jonah) and the word vank, which in Armenian means monastery. The monastery was dedicated to John the Baptist, whom Armenians venerate as their patron-saint. The monastery stands on the edge of the Qasakh River Canyon, and its territory is adjacent to the village of Ohanavan.

History and architecture
The oldest part of the monastery is the single nave basilica of St. Karapet (i.e. Holy Forerunner, John the Baptist) that was founded at the beginning of the fourth century by St. Gregory the Enlightener, who baptized Armenia into the world’s first Christian nation. The wooden roof of the early church was replaced in 554 AD with a thatch cover, and the basilica itself underwent profound renovation between 1652 and 1734.

The centerpiece of the monastery is the Cathedral built between 1216 and 1221 through the donation of Prince Vache Vachutian. The Cathedral has a cruciform floor plan, with two story sacristies in each of the four extensions of the church. The dome has an umbrella-shaped roof, which is unique to Armenian churches. Cathedral’s important decorations include carved scenes from the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).

Portal leading into the main church from the gavit.In 1250, Vache Vachutian’s son, Kurt Vachutian, built a narthex (gavit) next to the western wall of the Cathedral. The narthex is supported by four base pillars and features a central rotunda (added in 1274) that rests on twelve columns. Between the 12th and 17th centuries, Hovhannavank was known as an important educational and theological center of Eastern Armenia that had a scriptorium where manuscripts were written and illuminated. The monastery was described in details in 1686 by the historian Zakaria Kanakertsi who spent his entire life at Hovhannavank.

The monastery walls are covered with rich lapidary inscriptions. One large engraved text high on the northern wall of one of the monastery’s auxiliary structures reads:

…By the grace of merciful God, during the reign of Queen Tamar, daughter of the great Gevorg, in the year 642 (1200 AD) of the race of Torgom, we—brothers Zakaria and Ivane—sons of Sargis the Great, son of Avag Zakarian, when the light of God’s grace rose and entered Armenia and raised us from weakness in the battle against the enemies of Christ and destroyed their power and quenched their violence, with the country of Ararat delivered from the heavy yoke of their servitude, wished to make offering and gave the tribute of the grace to the Holy Forerunner of Hovhannavank …
Another key inscription was left by Konstandin I, Katholicos of Armenia.

Hovhannavank’s Cathedral belongs to the category of “Gandzasar-style” ecclesiastical edifices that were built approximately at the same time in different parts of Armenia, and were endowed with similar compositional and decorative characteristics (another example—Cathedral of the Haritchavank Monastery). Those include umbrella-shaped dome, cruciform floor plan, narthex (often with stalactite-ornamented ceiling), and high-relief of a large cross on one of church’s walls. In 1918, the dome and the southern wall were destroyed by a powerful earthquake; both were reconstructed in the 1990s.

Question by Cerberus: What are those Giant Black Chickens called?
Ive see them in a zoo, There every bit as big as the biggest tom turkey you’ll ever find!!! There not Jersey Giants…way way way bigger!!! I have done research and have found nothing…Im really not crazy…I saw a giant chicken!

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5 Responses to What are those Giant Black Chickens called?

  1. cows?

    nemeczek
    January 21, 2014 at 7:19 pm
    Reply

  2. hippos! :)))))

    gkbhfn;ibkuxnhdfg
    January 21, 2014 at 7:48 pm
    Reply

  3. They are called Black Giants I used to raise them. They are huge! They’re not really hard to find call your local agricultural agent and he or she can steer you to a poultry association.

    Willie
    January 21, 2014 at 8:25 pm
    Reply

  4. The Orpington Chicken is a large bird from the English class of chickens. It is a bold, upright breed with a wide chest, broad back and smallish head and tail.The Orpington chicken was bred as a dual-purpose breed (meat production and eggs), but its popularity grew as a show bird rather than a utility breed.Their large size and soft appearance together with their rich colour and gentle contours make them very attractive.

    andrew p
    January 21, 2014 at 9:17 pm
    Reply

  5. Jersy Giants are the largest by weight but you may have seen Orpingtons or Cochins. If they were in a zoo they may have been some other type of fowl though.

    jessi
    January 21, 2014 at 9:35 pm
    Reply

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