Ax'tala

The monastery, also known by the historical names Agarak or Płenjahank' (copper mine), is enclosed within a fortified wall whose date of construction is not known with certainty, but is certainly later than the 10th century. The monastic buildings consist of three churches, a bell tower, some porches and the monks' quarters. The main church, St. Astvacacin, is of the inscribed domed-cross type. Inside, cycles of frescoes survive depicting the Virgin enthroned and the Last Judgement, work of the Georgian school of the early 13th century. The exterior walls display various geometric motifs, incised decoration and crosses in relief; the dome, which collapsed in the 18th century, was rebuilt in the 19th century and later given a metal covering. Against the north wall stands a small rectangular room, accessible from outside. The west front is preceded by a porch of two bays and, to the south of this, by the second church, a vaulted chapel of rectangular plan. This small building is decorated on the outside with blind arcading on clusters of engaged half-columns: it is thought to have been built in the 13th century. The third church, at some distance to the north-west of the main complex, is a small Russian chapel built at the end of the 19th century. The bell tower, a small two-storey building of square plan near the main entrance of the fortress, also dates from the same period.