Lmbatavank' - S. Step'anos

This church, well preserved especially in its interior spatial arrangement, stands near the village of Lmbat, from which it takes its name. The external volume is composed of superimposed elementary volumes typical of this type: at ground level the free cross, higher up the octagonal drum, and finally the pyramidal roof. In the north-west corner a small apsed, barrel-vaulted chapel, accessible from outside, was added, perhaps in the medieval period. The portal is located near the north corner of the west arm, above which opens a large. The interior space, clearly developed vertically, tends to combine the characteristics of the apsed cross-shaped space and of the triconch space: in fact the north and south arms, which are rectangular at ground level like the west arm, have at mid-height a geometric arrangement of squinches similar to that of the central space. The barrel vault of the west arm is marked at the top by a large relief cross intended to emphasise the east-west axis.