I stand sweating in the heat, in the ancient Yererouk Basilica in Armenia near the border with Turkey. Around me young engineers are filming. Using 3D digital technology, they’re scanning every part of the building. When the material is put together, it will recreate the church on a screen, in full-colour and in three dimensions.
This is the digital preservation initiative, created by TUMO, the Center for Creative Technologies, based in Armenia’s capital Yerevan. It’s training young people to use new technology, but also connecting Armenian teenagers with their 2000-year-old Christian heritage. And for the BBC World Service faith podcast Heart and Soul, I’ve been able to join a team exploring one of the country’s most significant ancient buildings.
Armenia was the first kingdom to adopt Christianity as its state religion. But in 2023, the country lost control of numerous important religious sites, when the province of Nagorno-Karabakh was taken over by neighbouring Muslim Azerbaijan. The mountainous enclave, known as Artsakh to Armenians, has long been a disputed territory between the two countries. Despite the new peace agreement signed recently, the province is still closed to Armenians. International observers using satellite technology say dozens of important Christian sites have been damaged or destroyed.
I’ve travelled to Armenia to hear how drones and lasers are helping young Armenians to connect to and preserve their ancient Christian heritage, at a time when many sites are being silently erased from the map.