Kirants Monastery

The Kirants Monastery group of monuments is located in the Tavush region of Armenia, about 12 km west of the village of Kirants (former Getashen), on the left bank of the tributary of the same name. It consists of three churches, vestibule - halls, refectory, residential and auxiliary buildings. The monastery is walled. Almost all the monastic structures are made of brick (the wall anchors, roofs, individual details are made of stone) and from that point of view, the Kirants Monastery is one of the unique monuments of Armenian medieval architecture. According to the dimensional and spatial forms, the artistic decoration, the monastery dates back to the 13th century.

The main church - 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. Wide-arched vestibules are placed in front of entrances decorated with western and southern floral and geometric ornaments. Adjacent to the north and south sides of the main church are two smaller, single-nave hall-type churches.

Refectory - located west of the monument group. It is built of semi-finished basalt, vaulted with an invention, it is of the hall type with three vaulted arches, the inner walls of which are plastered with lime mortar and covered with frescoes like the main church. On the western side of the dining room are several walled rooms of the monastery. The remains of the cells of the monastery, the cemetery, the wall of the monastery with a large arched gate have also been preserved.