Khoranashat Monastery

Khoranashat Monastery is located in the Tavush region of Armenia, 1 km northeast of Chinari village, on the wooded slope of the mountain. The monastery was built in the 13th century. founded by Hovhannes Vanakan Vardapet. S. have been preserved. Astvatsatsin Church, courtyard, St. Sunday Chapel, Remains of Wall, Gravestones, & c. The main church is a quadrangular structure with a domed dome, a pair of gables, a semi-circular eastern altar and a pair of two-story vaults. The octagonal high drum sessions are covered with glazed tiles of star and diagonal shapes. The dome, crowned with a pointed pediment, is supported by pediments connected by arrow-shaped arches and eight masonry pediments. The walls of the church are plastered with lime mortar, decorated with frescoes with inscriptions in Georgian and Greek letters, which proves that the monastery belongs to the Armenian Chalcedonians.

S. Astvatsatsin Church - built in 1211-1222, from pink hewn stone. It is a domed hall type structure. On both sides of the senior tabernacle, decorated with 12 niches, there are two-story storage rooms. 1216 are preserved here. and in 1220 records. It had four altars in the vestibule, all four on the right and left sides of the stage, because of which the church got the name Khoranashat.

Vestibule - built in 1251, adjacent to the church on the west side. It is a building with a four-pillar central structure, the roof of which is realized by the structural principle of three pairs of intersecting arches. On the east side of the vestibule are two two-storied tabernacles. The western wall is decorated with niches similar to the Upper Tabernacle of the church. The west portico is decorated with animal bas-reliefs, and there is a sundial on the south wall.

S. Sunday chapel - XIII century. is a structure. It was located in St. On the south side of Astvatsatsin Church.

To the east of the monastery, S. Remains of hermit chapel, large carved winged khachkar, medieval graves. It is likely that the grave of Hovhannes Vanakan Vardapet (died in 1251) is here.

The Khoranashat monastery complex was a prominent center of writing in the Middle Ages, where 13th-17th centuries. many manuscripts, some of which are preserved in the Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran of Yerevan.

A number of prominent figures, students of Vanakan - historians Kirakos Gandzaketsi, Vardan Areveltsi, Grigor Aknetsi, Stepanos Aghtamartsi and others worked here. After the monk, the monastery school was headed by priests Grigoris and Poghos.

Photo By: Cosmo Deus