Amaghou - Noravank

It stands two kilometres from the village of Amaghou, in the Mikoyan region, in a mountain landscape; it was built by the Orbèli family, princes of the Siounik region. This complex, surrounded by a quadrangular fortification, consists of two churches, a gavit and a two-storey building that was perhaps the family tomb. The main church, dedicated to St. Garabed, belongs to the “domed hall” type with two-storey corner rooms; it was built between 1221 and 1227. The gavit of this church, built in 1261 by Prince Smbat Orbèlian, is a square hall without free-standing columns, covered by a pavilion vault; the western entrance is enriched by a semicircular tympanum with bas-reliefs depicting Christ and the Virgin. The church of St. Gregory, adjoining the first and covered by a longitudinal barrel vault, dates from 1275. The church of St. Asdvadzadzin, built into a stretch of the eastern side of the enclosure wall, is an original two-storey building that was crowned by a small cylindrical lantern, now lost; it was built in 1339 for Prince Bourtel Orbèlian. The ground floor, rectangular in plan, was perhaps the family tomb, and the upper floor, cruciform in plan, a chapel. Of great interest is the west wall of this building, largely occupied by the two superimposed portals and by the double cantilevered external staircase leading to the upper floor: the lunettes are decorated with bas-reliefs depicting the Virgin and Child between two angels, and Christ blessing. The complex was restored in 1948-49.