19  Teghenyats Monastery. Kotayk Province, Armenia
Unique Armenian polyfoil

Unique Armenian polyfoil

Teghenyats monastery

Teghenyats monastery is located just 40 km away from Yerevan in a forested fold of the Tsaghkunyats mountain range not far from Buzhakan village of Armenia’s Kotayk province. PanARMENIAN.Net talked about this impressive medieval monument to Gagik Sargsyan, the director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography at the RA Academy of Sciences, while PAN Photo took the photographs.

PanARMENIAN.Net - Teghenyats monastery complex includes Katoghike church, two courtyards, a seminary, a library, a dining area and a minor church (Surb Astvatsatsin).

Group of monuments

A medieval cemetery, as well as the basements of chapels and dwellings can be found not far from the monastery.

Teghenyats monastery was a cultural and educational center in the 10th-14th centuries

The oldest construction in the area, Surb Astvatsatsin cruciform church, dates back to the 5th-7th century. Its foundation was discovered during excavations. Katoghike domed church with ambries was built in the 12th century.

Basing on the regulations preserved in Teghenyats and Makenatsots monasteries, Catholicos Nerses IV the Gracious developed in 1166 a common system of divine services in Armenian churches and monasteries.

Unique carvings

The most attractive part of Katoghike church is the front side of the stage, which consists of six square and rectangle stones 90cm high and 25cm thick.

Carvings on the front side of Katoghike church stage

A peacock with its tail open and head turned left is carved in the central stone. It’s noteworthy that although peacocks are common for Armenian miniature art, their images are quite rarely met in stone carving.

According to Gagik Sargsyan, the ornaments of Teghenyats monastery are very important for the research of Armenian carvings.

Teghenyats monastery was for the first time mentioned at the beginning of the 8th century (727-728) by Patriarch Vahan Goghtnatsi, who stayed there for a while.

“The way the peacock is carved is unique. As well as the other ornaments in the area, it should become the subject of a thorough study,” the expert says.

The son and eternity symbol are carved in one of the stones; a bird with its beak against the wing is depicted in the middle of two intersect triangles fringed in ornamental ribbon can be found on another. These carvings are also unique, according to Sargsyan.

Gravestone in the form of sheep dating back to 15th-16th century

“These are precious examples of the proficiency of Armenian craftsmen,” Sargsyan says, adding that the front part of the church stage was in all probability built during the restoration works in late 12th century or at the beginning of the 14th century.

Teghenyats monastery was glorified in the 13th-14th centuries by prominent individuals of that time like Gevork Skeratsi and Mkrtich Babouni.

The monastery was completely damaged by the earthquake in 1827. The earthed Katoghike church, library and the minor church were discovered during the excavations that began in 1979 under the supervision of Gagik Sargsyan.

Kristine Kyurklyan / PanARMENIAN.Net, Vahan Stepanyan / PAN Photo
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