Sightseeing

HAGHARTSIN

Haghartsin Monastery is a 10th century Armenian monastic complex in Tavush marz, 18 km from Dilijan city. It was built during the 10th-13th centuries. Information about the monastery came to us from Kirakos Gandzaketsu. It flourished at the end of the 12th century - the beginning of the 13th century, during the leadership of Khachatur Taronatsi. As a study center, it is among the leading cultural centers of the 13th century. King Smbat I of the Armenian Bagratuni kingdom was buried here.

The Haghartsin complex consists of three churches, two courtyards, one of which is destroyed, as well as a refectory, prayer rooms, khachkars. In the area, to the east of the main group of monuments, there are prayer rooms and sculptured khachkars on the rock slope. The bronze cauldron found in Haghartsin (350 kg, now in the National Museum of Art and Design) is one of the high-art samples of artistic metalwork. the engraving on the crown of the lip indicates the year of manufacture: 1232, the four canters are figurines of lions, the legs are also artistically decorated.

The earliest is the Church of St. Gregory (about X century). It is a domed structure with a rectangular plan on the outside and a cross plan on the inside. Adjacent to the church from the west is the vestibule with a four-pillared central composition (end of the 12th century), on the corner flat ceilings of which there are high sculptures: figures of people, roses, birds, angels, and inscriptions. Remains of cemeteries have been preserved near the southern wall of the vestibule.

Adjacent to St. Grigor's Church from the north is a vaulted chapel (XIII century), and very close to the east is St. Stephen's domed church (1244), built of bluish basalt with exquisite details.

The main Saint Astvatsatsin church of the complex is a domed hall type. According to the inscription on the fateful stone of the southern entrance, it was built in 1281, but studies suggest that the structure was restored in 1281 with some changes, being founded probably in the 10th-11th centuries. The facades (except the western one) have Armenian niches. The high, round drum is surrounded by decorative niches. Entrances, windows and walls are moderately decorated with simple broken cornices, crosses, etc.

In the western part of the monument group is the refectory. According to the inscription near the southwestern entrance, it was built in 1248. The architect's name is Minas. It is one of two similar structures in Armenia, the other one is in Haghpat. It is a rectangular hall divided by a pair of columns into two equal parts, each of which is covered by a system of two pairs of intersecting arches. Inside, the only decoration is the obelisks, externally, around the southwest entrance (the two windows of the southern facade were opened later). Haghartsin dining room is one of the best examples of Armenian architecture with its structural trick and fine art.