STAVROPOL, Russia, March 22 (UPI) -- There are high-tech ways to determine the age of something, but Russian scientists used ancient Greek to nail the age of Christian Sentinsky Church.
The discovery of the age of the ancient church, located in Karachayevo-Circassia, about 750 miles southwest of Moscow between the Black and Caspian seas, was a sensation for archaeologists and orthodox historians, reported Novosti, the Russian government news agency, Monday.
As restorers prepared to work on the Byzantine frescoes on the vaulting of the Sentinsky Church, the experts found the date of its construction written in ancient Greek -- April 2, 967.
The Sentinsky, Shaoninsky and three Nizhne-Arkhyzsky Churches have always been an attraction for archaeologists, historians, clergymen and tourists from many countries.
"The Academy of Sciences was highly interested in our report on the find revealing the origin of the Sentinsky Church and on the problems of restoration of all the five Alan churches," said Umar Elkanov, director of the Karachayevo-Circassian state museum.
