Aragatsotn - Tegher Monastery - Armenia - Black Sea Silk Road Corridor

Aragatsotn - Tegher Monastery

Aragatsotn - Tegher Monastery

This monastery is also referred to as Sourb Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God), Sourb Khach (St. Cross) and Dgher. The complex consists of the church and the gavit.

The inscription shows that the church and the gavit adjoining it on the west were built for Prince Vache Vachutian’s wife (“Mama Khatun”) and designed by architect Vardapet Aghbairik in 1213-1232. Rectangular on the outside, the church is a domed cruciform on the inside with two-story annexes at each of the four corners. The church is remarkable for moderate patterns and almost complete lack of décor.

Adjoining the church to the west is the gavit, which is grander than the main building. It belongs to the type of gavits with a central plan and four columns crowned by a low-pitch 12-faceted tent roof, a design that became widespread in the 13th c.

Outstanding in the Armenian architecture are the chapels built in the north-west and south-west ends of the gavit roof which give a unique triple-domed silhouette to the monument.

The complex wall was commissioned in 1467 by Vardapet Sargis Byurakantsi. In 1950-1952 the domes of the church and chapels were renovated, the roofs were covered with tufa slabs. In 1975-1976 the upper rows of the walls of the church and the gavit were renovated, the cornices were fortified.

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How to reach Continue uphill on the Dzorap road (take the left fork when given the choice) for about 5 km on a climbing, winding road past the turnoff to Orgov (at about 2.9 km) that gradually deteriorates as it reaches Tegher Monastery․