Haghardzin

The monastery, which stands about twenty kilometres from the town of Dilidjian, takes its name from the stream that runs through the narrow valley, with its luxuriant woodland vegetation (hornbeams and oaks) characteristic of the northern part of the country, above the Sevan basin. The complex, in splendid isolation and in a perfectly unspoilt natural setting, consists of three churches of the domed-hall type, of different sizes and set very close together, creating a lively interplay of volumes. The oldest building is the church of St. Gregory (10th or 12th century), preceded by a large gavit added at the end of the 12th century by the princes Ivan and Zarkar Zacarian. Very remarkable, in their rough expressiveness, are the figurative reliefs on the four corner sections of the roofs. Joined to the church on the north side is a small chapel (known as the cathedral), with its apse (concealed within the thickness of the wall) perfectly aligned with that of St. Gregory. To the north stands the larger church of St. Mary (St. Asdvadzadzin), whose plan dates from 1071 but which was rebuilt in 1281. It was preceded by a large gavit, of which only part of the masonry on the north-west sides now remains. Inside there is a significant relief depicting the Madonna and Child between two angels. Beside the side entrance stands a magnificent khatchkar. To the east is the church of St. Stephen (12th-13th century), once linked to the apse end of the Cathedral by a small portico on hanging columns. The interior is particularly notable for the refined modulation of the structural members and of the corner mouldings. Somewhat detached, on the opposite side, towards the entrance road, stands the long refectory building, built by the architect Minas in 1248, which served as something of a prototype for similar buildings; see the next example, Hakhpat. It is a large hall formed by joining two square bays covered by four intersecting great arches, with a small lantern in the centre. Towards the kitchen, now destroyed, one notices a curious chamfering of the outer corner, with a repeated, diminishing stalactite motif.