Marmachen

The monastery stands on the banks of the river Akhourian a few kilometres from the town of Leninakan, near the ancient village of Vahramachen. Built between 986 and 1029 under the reign of Vahran Pahlavouni, the complex consists of three churches of different sizes with their east walls almost perfectly aligned, reproducing the scheme of the longitudinal domed hall already used at Talish and Ptghni in the 7th century. The main church, which was preceded by a now-lost portico, has all its external walls articulated by blind arcading which, as in the cathedral of Anì, also frames the portals and the triangular niches of the north, east and south sides. The polygonal drum is articulated by clustered columns set against the corners and is surmounted by an umbrella roof. The monastery was completed by a fourth church, whose remains clearly reveal a plan very similar to that of St. Sergius in the nearby monastery of Khtskonk: a tetraconch inscribed in a cylinder.