Alayaz

In the small town, set on a high natural terrace above the Vajoz Zor valley (which rises towards Sevan), stands the church of St. Stephen (built in the 13th century by Stephen Orbeli), a remarkable example of an open-air chapel; it consists in practice of a large apse area with a tripartite opening formed by two columns, flanked by two smaller side rooms. A few hundred metres further down the valley stands the chapel of St. Guido (Saint Garabed), a tiny building on a cruciform plan, with a tall drum and a very slender conical roof. For these churches too, mention must be made of the particular chromatic effect obtained by using the local volcanic rocks, brownish and blue-violet in colour.