Description of the attraction
The Haghartsin Monastery in Dilijan is one of the main historical architectural sights not only of the city, but of the whole of Armenia. The monastery is located 18 km from Dilijan in the upper reaches of the Haghartsin River among green mountain forests.
The monastery complex was built in the XI-XIII centuries. The medieval temple occupies a fairly large area. The monastic complex consists of the Church of St. Grigor, built in the XI century, the Church of St. Astvatsatsin built in 1281, the Church of St. Stepanos, erected in 1244, the chapel of the XIII century, the burial vault of the royal family of Bagratids, built in the XII century., a refectory in 1248 and a number of other various premises for monastic services, erected in the XII-XIII centuries.
The most ancient building of the Haghartsin monastery complex is the Church of St. Grigor. The temple itself is small, rectangular at the base. The interior was made in the form of a cross. The church is crowned with a cone-shaped dome on an octagonal drum. Around the end of the second half of the XII century. a small church made of blue basalt and a narthex were added to the temple. In 1244, a small church of St. Stepanos was erected, which is a miniature copy of the main church of St. Gregory.
A rare example of architecture is the refectory, built in 1248 by the architect Minas. Its room consists of two parts, covered by a system of intersecting arches. Near the door, at the western end, you can see a wide arched opening, which is provided for the entrance and exit of a large number of pilgrims.
Another church - St. Astvatsatsin - was originally built in the XI century, but in 1287 it was rebuilt again. The main decoration of this largest monastery building is a 16-sided dome with beautiful stucco arches. The building of the St. Astvatsatsin Church itself has a cross-domed architecture with rich decorative design of the facades.
In the XIII Art. Haghartsin Monastery in Dilijan became the largest center of cultural and spiritual life in Armenia. Near the refectory, you can see the ruins of the monastery kitchen and several chapels that have survived to this day, and next to the southern wall of the vestibule of the Church of St. Grigor - the foundations of the tombs of the kings from the Kyurikid dynasty.
