Description of the attraction
Tatev Monastery is a pearl of the Armenian architecture of the Middle Ages. It is located in southern Armenia in the center of Syunik Marz, which is 315 km from Yerevan and 30 km from the city of Goris, on the right bank of the Vorotan River, near the village of the same name Tatev.
The monastery was built in the IX - XIII centuries. and was consecrated in honor of Saint Eustathius, a disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus, who, like his teacher, preached Christianity and died as a martyr for the new faith.
The first church of the monastery complex was built in the IX century. At that time, several monks lived in the monastery. In the XIII Art. Tatev became the seat of the Syunik bishops. From 1390 to 1435 the Tatev University worked at the monastery, which is the largest center of philosophical and scientific thought in the Middle Ages. The university was headed by philosophers, teachers and outstanding public figures O. Vorotnetsi and G. Tatevatsi.
In 848, Prince Philip built the first church and consecrated it in the name of St. Grigor Lusavorich, but it was destroyed twice. In 1295, a church with a vestibule on the west side was built on the same site and with the same name. The Church of St. Grigor Lusavorich with a single-vaulted prayer hall and a semicircular altar is adjacent to the main church in the southeastern part.
The main church of the Tatev monastery is the church of St. Poghos-Petros. It was built in 895-906. In 895 Bishop Hovhannes destroyed the old church and built a new one in its place. The bishop removed the relics of the apostles Poghos and Petros from the walls of the old church and placed them again in the walls of the newly erected church.
The main attraction of the monastery is "Gavazan", which is a swinging column, installed in 904 next to the living quarters of the monastery. The eight-meter stone pillar is crowned with a khachkar. The main feature of this design is that the octagonal pillar can independently tilt and return to its original position.
The gateway church of St. Astvatsatsin, built in 1087, is a unique example of Armenian architecture.
The church buildings are surrounded by those erected in the 17th - 18th centuries. rector's quarters, storerooms, a vaulted refectory with a kitchen, a bell tower, office and living quarters.
