SANAHIN / Xth - XIIIth centuries
Likewise located in the region of Lori this monastic complex stands on the edge of the basin of the Dzoraget river. The monastery was probably erected on the site of a pre-Christian temple. It comprises three churches, two gavits, an academy, a library, a bell-tower, the whose encircled by a fortified wall.
In the center stands the church of the Mother of God begun in 930. It is of the domed hall type with four corner rooms. The drum and cupola are of later date (XVlllth century).
Next to this church of relatively modest proportions, Queen Khosrovanuysh with the help of her husband King Ashot III Bagratuni began in 966 the construction of the Church of the Savior which she dedicated to her sons Smbat and Gurgen who are shown on a bas relief of the tympanum on the east façade. This church has the some general lines as the preceding ones but is considerably larger in size.
The chapel of St. Gregory with a quadrilobed plan inscribed in a circle was rebuilt in 1061. The library which is one of the most interesting buildings was erected in 1063. It has a square plan and a roof supported by diagonal arches which rest on four half columns placed in the middle of the sides of the square. The building activity slowed down in the Xlth century as a result of the Seljuq invasions, but it resumed at the end of the Xllth century with the construction of the gavit placed in front of the church of the Savior which is the work of the abbot John.
The four monolithic columns which support the roof are noteworthy. The second large gavit placed in front of the church of the Virgin and having a triple barrel vault carried on a double row of pillars was built in 1211. The west façade is pierced by an arcade under which are placed two very precious Khach'k'ars dating from 1187 and 1215. |
