Ganjasar

This monastery consists of a vast quadrangular enclosure built in the 17th century, inside which stands a large church preceded by a 13th-century gavit'. The church, built in 1216 by Prince Jalal and his wife, belongs to the usual type known as the Armenian cross; above the crossing of the arms of the cross rises, as usual, the drum with its pointed roof. The interior is dominated by the vastness of the central space. The four corner rooms, which here are on two storeys, remain entirely excluded from this unitary conception. The decorative apparatus, moreover, is particularly rich, emphasising the spatial functions of the various elements. The same care can be seen in the treatment of the exterior: the base volume is set within a cage of wall arcading of differing shapes and sizes, framing niches and windows of various kinds, in a search for expressive unity; rectangular windows, niches filled with colonnettes and heraldic motifs, and other decorative or symbolic elements, including figures of saints, animals, etc.