AGENCY FOR CONSERVATION
OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MONUMENTS
MONASTERY OF SEVAN
(874 A.D.)
WHETHER BY DAY OR BY MOONLIGHT, THE SILHOUETTE OF TWO OF THE MONASTERY'S CHURCHES PERCHED HIGH ON AN ISLAND, NOW A PENINSULA, OVERLOOKING LAKE SEVAN HAS BEEN A HAUNTING SIGHT FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS. IN ADDITION, ARMENIAN ARCHITECTS OF THE PROVINCE OF SUNIK SITED THE ARCHITECTURAL ENSEMBLE OF THE MONASTERY BEAUTIFULLY TO PROVIDE ITS INHABITANTS WITH AN UNFORGETTABLE VISTA OF THE DISTINCTIVE BLUE WATERS OF THE LAKE FOR MILES AROUND. BEFORE THE MONASTERY WAS BUILT, THE ISLAND/PENINSULA WAS TRADITIONALLY ASSOCIATED WITH ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR AND WAS WELL KNOWN ALSO FOR ITS STRATEGICALLY LOCATED FORTRESS. FOR EXAMPLE, DURING HIS REIGN (R. 914–929) KING ASHOT ERKAT ("MAN OF IRON") USED IT TO ADVANTAGE IN HIS CAMPAIGN TO FREE THE COUNTRY FROM THE ARABS. BOTH CHURCHES ARE DOMED AT THE CENTER AND CRUCIFORM IN PLAN BUT WITH INDIVIDUAL TOUCHES.
MOST OF THE CHURCHES OF MEDIEVAL ARMENIA WERE COMMISSIONED BY MEMBERS OF HIGH RANKING ARMENIAN FEUDAL FAMILIES PRINCES, NOBLES, GENERALS, AND THEIR SPOUSES. IN ADDITION TO PARTICIPATING WITH THEIR HUSBANDS, ARMENIAN WOMEN - QUEENS AND PRINCESSES, MARRIED OR WIDOWED - AS SOLITARY PATRONS COMMISSIONED SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHURCHES IN ARMENIA. INSCRIPTIONS AT SEVAN AND HISTORIANS TELL US THAT PRINCESS MARIAM OF SUNIK, DAUGHTER OF KING ASHOT BAGRATUNI, FOUNDED THIS MONASTERY AND ERECTED ITS CHURCHES (AND OTHER IMPORTANT MONASTERIES ELSEWHERE). AMONG THE ART TREASURES CREATED AT SEVAN ARE THE WOODEN CAPITALS WITH INTRICATELY CARVED BIRDS, AND FLORAL AND OTHER MOTIFS. THEY ARE NOW AT THE STATE HISTORICAL MUSEUM IN YEREVAN.
(WITH THE GENEROSITY AND ASSISTANCE OF THE ARMENIAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF AMERICA, IN WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.)
