Aghthamar

Church dedicated to the Holy Cross. It was built on the island of Aghthamar, near the southern shore of Lake Van, by order of King Gagik Artzrouni and by the architect Manuel between 915 and 921, as a palace church, and later became the seat of various Katholikoi. The church is of the tetraconch type, with two corner chapels flanking the eastern apse, where the altar stands. The church is generally considered to derive from the church of St. Hripsime at Vagharshapat (7th century), and its plan was probably inspired by that of Soradir, in the same region of Vaspourakan. The interior is richly frescoed with episodes from the New Testament, and the exterior is equally richly worked with low and high reliefs recounting various episodes from the Old Testament, the life of Christ, various saints and the Evangelists. The scene is completed by various episodes of daily life, hunting, the grape harvest, etc. The church is surrounded by various buildings erected in different periods from the 14th to the 19th century, among the last of them a building, the residence of the Katholikos, which has now been completely destroyed.