Description of the attraction
Sanahin Monastery, located in the village of the same name near the canyon of the Debed River, is one of the main cult sights of this region. On the other side of Debed is the city of Alaverdi. The monastery covers an area of about 2 hectares. It is believed that he stands in the place where in the IV Art. Gregory the Illuminator erected a stone cross.
The exact date of the foundation of the monastery is still unknown. However, there is some information that already in the X-XI Art. the number of monks in the monastery reached several hundred people. Presumably, these were the Armenian clergy, who were expelled from Byzantium by the emperor Roman Lakapin.
The first building of the Surb-Astvatsatsin temple on this site was built by order of the Armenian king Abbas Bagratunin in about the first half of the 10th century. The cross-domed temple with four aisles is made of half-hewn basalt. The surviving fragments of plaster with some elements of painting suggest that the church interior was decorated with murals. Throughout the history of the church, it has been repeatedly repaired and partially rebuilt. So, in 1652 the dome was installed.
The largest monument of Sanahin is the Amenaprkich church, which served in the X century. Cathedral of the Lori kingdom. The Amenaprkich Church differs from the Surb-Astvatsatsin temple only by its masonry, made of smoothly hewn pieces of basalt. The main attraction of this church is the sculptural group, represented in the form of the kings Kyurike and Smbat, holding a model of the church in their hands. In 1061 a small chapel of Surb Grigor was built to the east of the Church of the Mother of God.
The Academy and the Book Depository of Sanahin, built in the XI century, are considered the original works of the civil architecture of Armenia. Another monumental structure - the bell tower - is a three-storey square at the base with a hexagonal rotunda, where bells hung. Next to the main complex is the tomb of the Zakharid family.
