Hayrawank Monastery
The Hayravank Monastery ( Armenian Հայրավանք even Hajrawank ) is a monastery of the Armenian Apostolic Church on a rocky hill near the village Hayrawank on the western shore of Lake Sevan in the Armenian province of Gegharkunik .
The small church dates from the late 9th century. It has a cross-shaped quatrefoil -Grundriss with four semicircular apses . The two apses in the east and west are slightly more accentuated, so that the inner diameter in east-west direction is 10 m and in north-south direction only about 9 m. The drum and dome rise above the central area, both of which have been restored after being destroyed in the meantime. The outside of the dome is clad as an octagonal pyramid . At the southeast corner there is a small, later added chapel with an interior size of around 1.5 × 3 square meters.
The original entrance was in the south apse. In the 12th or 13th century, a 14 × 14 square meter vestibule ( gavit ) was added to the west of the church, from which a new (second) entrance was broken into the western apse. This building, which is oversized compared to the church, does not harmonize architecturally with it. Two thick pillars in the western part and two semi-circular pillars on the east wall support very strong cross arches on which a drummer and a relatively flat six-sided pyramidal roof resting, both entirely of black and red tufa - cut stones are brick. This is one of the first examples of this multi-colored decoration that became common in Armenian sacred buildings in the centuries that followed. The north, west and south sides of the gavit end with flat pointed roofs.
There are a number of impressive chatschkars , artistically carved gravestones and memorial stones, on the site immediately around the church . The other monastery buildings once built around the church, such as residential buildings, library, school, etc., have disappeared.
literature
- Brady Kiesling: Rediscovering Armenia: Guide. Matit Graphic Design Studio, Yerevan 2005.
Web links
- Hayrawank, at Armenica.org (information, photos, plans, sketches, ornamentation)
Coordinates: 40 ° 25 ′ 58 ″ N , 45 ° 6 ′ 28 ″ E