Mshkavank Monastery

Mshkavank or Mshakavank is a defunct medieval Armenian Apostolic monastery complex in the village of Kohb, Tavush province of Armenia. Mshkavank is located 3 km south of the village of Kohb, Tavush region, on a wooded highland plateau. There is an impassable dirt road from Kohba to the monastery complex.

Architecture and structure

The monastery complex consisted of a number of buildings, among which the church of St. Astvatsatsin, the narthex adjacent to it, the adjacent cemetery, and a dilapidated chapel are now preserved. The main building is constructed of large hewn stones of yellow-brown felsite. Ruins of buildings belonging to the monastery have been preserved near the monastery. It is known for its rich khachkars and leafy inscriptions.

Church

The Church of St. Astvatsatsin is a one-nave hall of a square plan, covered with a semicircular vault. On both sides of the eastern semicircular altar are two-story narrow sacristy. The only entrance, open on the west side, is decorated with a semicircular arch in a rectangular frame decorated with a pair of semicircular plantations and weaving patterns, facing the lobby. The eastern facade of the church above the altar window is decorated with a stylized cross, on the wing of which a bull's head is carved. Due to the terrain, the floor of the church is much higher than the level of the narthex. This height is architecturally overcome by four stone steps.

Lobby

The narthex with intersecting arches is the main structure of the monastery complex. It has a composition of stepless centripetal vestibules with a system of intersecting paired arches with an additional space elongated on the west side, separated from the square part of the vestibule by a pair of massive round-section columns. It has a four-pitched terrace. Entrance from the western facade. The porch is framed by three-tiered rectangular frames. According to the structural scheme, the narthex of the Mshkavank is similar to the narthex of the monasteries of Haghpat and Gandzasar and is of exceptional interest to researchers.

Chapel

To the south of the main building, a dilapidated chapel has been preserved.

Cemetery

There is an old cemetery around the church.