NORAVANK MONASTERY

Noravank is one of the most interesting buildings in Armenia, both in terms of its architecture and its natural setting. It is located in a mountain cirque with steep, arid cliffs; the monuments stand out barely against the background of the rocky walls, of an ochre tending to red.

Surrounded by a surrounding wall that seems quite derisory compared to the natural fortress of the surrounding mountains, the monastery consists of a mausoleum, two churches and a jamatoun, with a third church standing out against the wall, around which are scattered the remains of chapels and monastery buildings. Founded in the 12th century, the monastic complex did not really expand until the 13th-14th centuries, when it was promoted to the episcopal see of Siunie and the pantheon of the Orbelian lords of the region. The great architect Momik, assisted by Siranes, worked there.

The main church, St. John the Baptist (Sourp Hovhannés Mkrtitch), or St. John Protomartyr, was built by Prince Liparit Orbelian and Bishop Sarkis in 1216-1223, and was joined in 1261 by a jamatoun built under the direction of Prince Smbat Orbelian, probably depicted on horseback, chasing the lion sabre in the clear, on one of the many bas-reliefs that adorn this narthex opened by a superb portal and surmounted by two tympanums that are among the masterpieces of Armenian statuary.

The most original building is the Mausoleum of the Holy Mother of God (Sourp Asdvadzadzin, 1331-1339), a strange, richly sculpted three-storey construction, inside and out, reminiscent of the church at Eghvard, north of Yerevan, and reminiscent of some Hindu temple. The main façade superimposes two portals surmounted by sculpted tympanums, dedicated below to the Virgin, above to Christ the God. The ^second level is reached by a flight of steps joining in a trapezoid from the base of the building on the main facade.