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AGENCY FOR CONSERVATION
OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MONUMENTS
MONASTERY OF NORAVANK AT AMAGHU
(NINTH CENTURY TO 1339)
THE MONASTERY'S MAJOR STRUCTURES DATE FROM THE EARLY THIRTEENTH CENTURY AFTER AMAGHU WAS LIBERATED FROM THE SELJUK TURKS AND CEDED TO THE FEUDAL ORBELEAN FAMILY. HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO THE HISTORIAN, BISHOP STEPANOS ORBELEAN, THE OLD CHURCHES OF ST. KARAPET AND ST. PAKOS HAD BEEN IN EXISTENCE SINCE THE NINTH CENTURY. IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY, THE EPISCOPAL SEE WAS TRANSFERRED HERE AND THE MONASTERY BECAME KNOWN AS NORAVANK. BETWEEN 1221 AND 1339, FOUR NEW STRUCTURES WERE BUILT. THE MONASTERY BECAME A MAJOR RELIGIOUS, CULTURAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER AND SERVED AS THE ORBELEAN FAMILY'S BURIAL SITE. THE MONASTERY HAS BEEN DAMAGED BY EARTHQUAKES AT VARIOUS TIMES. HOWEVER, THE CHURCHES HAVE BEEN RESTORED.
THE MONASTERY IS COMPRISED OF A CLUSTER OF RELIGIOUS STRUCTURES BUILT SIDE BY SIDE NEXT TO THE OLD CHURCH OF ST. KARAPET, AND, STANDING BY ITSELF, THE LARGE CHURCH-MAUSOLEUM OF ST. ASTVATSATSIN (MOTHER OF GOD) THEY ARE ALL BUILT OF POLISHED BLOCKS OF TUFA ON THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SURFACES WHICH ENCLOSE A MASONRY RUBBLE CORE.
COMPLETED IN 1223, THE NEWER CHURCH OF ST. KARAPET IS A DOMED, HALL–TYPE CHURCH WITH A SEMICIRCULAR APSE AND TWO-STORY CHAPELS IN THE FOUR CORNERS. THE FACE OF THE APSE BEMA IS CARVED WITH ROWS OF CROSSES. A FRAGMENT OF THE CHURCH MODEL SHOWS THE DRUM AS OCTAGONAL, SUPPORTED BY FOUR ENGAGED PIERS AND COVERED BY AN UMBRELLA–SHAPED ROOF. ITS ONLY PORTAL, ON THE WEST SIDE, PROVIDES ACCESS TO THE GAVIT, WHICH WAS THE BURIAL PLACE OF THE ORBELEANS AND OF PRELATES. THE TYMPANUM PORTRAYS THE VIRGIN AND CHILD SEATED ON A TASSELED RUG WITH GEOMETRICAL DESIGNS, A MOTIF OF SPECIAL INTEREST IN THE HISTORY OF ORIENTAL CARPETS AND IN LATER RENAISSANCE PAINTINGS. THE SCENE CARVED IN STONE ABOVE THE PORTAL'S WINDOW IS A UNIQUE CREATION IN CHRISTIAN ART.
THE CHAPEL–MAUSOLEUM OF ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, A RECTANGULAR VAULTED STRUCTURE WITH A SEMICIRCULAR EASTERN APSE, WAS BUILT IN 1275 ON THE NORTH SIDE OF ST. KARAPET.
THE REMARKABLE TWO-STORY CHURCH-MAUSOLEUM OF ST. ASTVATSATSIN, COMPLETED IN 1339, STANDS ALONE TO THE SOUTHEAST. THE MAUSOLEUM IS ON THE GROUND LEVEL. THE CANTILEVERED DOUBLE STAIRCASE LEADS TO THE CHURCH ABOVE. THE FINE SCULPTURAL IMAGES CARVED ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE CHURCH INCLUDING ON THE TWO TYMPANA AND ON THE INTERIOR, AND THE UNUSUAL OPEN ROTUNDA WITH TWELVE COLUMNS MAKE THIS A VERY IMPORTANT EXAMPLE OF MEDIEVAL ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURE.
(WITH THE COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE OF THE ARMENIAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF AMERICA, IN WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.)
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