ARARAT MOUNTAIN GEGHARD KHORAKERT ZVARTNOC
GANDZASAR HRIPSIME NORAVANK


Ancient Armenia

7 WONDERS OF ARMENIA

“Seven wonders” terin was put into the world history by Greek historian Herodot. Everyone knows seven wonders of the world (The Pharos of Alexandria, Shamiram’s gardens, the Pyramids of Egypt, the statue of Zevs in Olimpia, the Colossus of Rhodes, the mausoleum of Halicarnas, the Temple of Arteminis in Ephesus ). We secluded seven wonders in Armenia, one of them is natural, and six are made by human. These wonders have huge influence on religious, scientific, architectural mind of the world, which is already higher than merely Armenian heritage, it is national heritage. The seven wonders of Armenia are Ararat mountain, Noravanq, Geghard church, Hripsime’s temple, Zvartnots, Khorakert church, Gandzasar, which is already higher than merely Armenian heritage, it is international heritage.

ARARAT  MOUNTAIN

The titanic work of forces of nature anytime scared everybody. It has  not only destroyed, but also created majestic monuments in Armenian plateau, among them is Ararat Mountain.

 

The first information about Ararat Mountain was in the oldest note “Legend about Gilgamesh”. There is said that in the result of God’s anger after mighty deluge survived only Utnapishtum and his family. They built an ark which had stopped on the top of Nasir mountain. Here Nasir – Masir – Masis. The same we can read in Bible.

About the beauty and the majesty of Ararat have also said Marko Polo in 1271, Rubruk in 1254, Sharden in 14th century, Joseph Pit in 1707, etc.

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Legends about Ararat had influence on science and geography of 20th century. The belief to the story that the humankind originated from Ararat Mountain is also so strong and real that it became an occasion in science to shape mystic opinions. Especially it was paid attention to the particularities of geographic disposition: it is situated on the centre of maximum tension, if we join Cape of Good Hope and Bering Strait Ararat is the centre of Asia-Africa deserts and it is the joining knot, which is the bottom of an ancient ocean. And at last Ararat is in the cutting point of Black, Red, Mediterranean and Caspian seas.

In geography of 20th century is mentioned that Armenian plateau is the place where the three capitals of Old World are at the closest distance.

The Bible says, when Noah went down the Ararat planted grape-vine and blessed the land and its fruit. Noah lived 300 years near Ararat, now Araratyan valley. Armenians believe in this blindly. Ararat is seen from Yerevan with all its beauty.

Its majesty is that Ararat is the highest mountain in the world with its relative height 4000 m from sea level, and the absolute height is 5165 m. The scene is really wonderful: on the absolute flat Araratyan valley rises the huge mountain, brilliant eternal 1000 sq.km ice on its top.

Ararat has two tops near there is Little Ararat. Ararat Mountain has been saint for Armenians since paganish times; they thought that their Gods lived on Ararat.

Historian Pavstos Busand says. “St. Jacob Mtsbinetsi asks God to let him see Noah’s ark, which has stopped on the top of Ararat. He goes up to the top. When he has already reached the top, he fell asleep. In his dream he sees God’s angel and the latter says." Jacob, God heard your request, the piece at your feet is from the ark, take it and don’t try to go farther, God says so”. Waking Jacob notices a piece of deck, takes it and goes back”.

Now that saint deck is in Echmiatsin and is one of Armenian Church’s holiness.

 

In 1837 Russian emperor Nikolai the 1st with his wife Alexandra visited Armenia to see the mountain. Three days long the emperor went to heights near Yerevan, but all the time Ararat was covered by clouds. The emperor said “Ararat, you didn’t want me to see you, and I don’t want you to see me” and he left Armenia.

GEGHARD

Stone is the symbol of Armenia and the mountains are adorning. Armenians are very proud of their mountains. Stone is everything for Armenians. It is the spirit, the faith and protector of Armenians. Armenians are the only nation that has put a symphony in stone.

One of them is Geghard monastery or Airivank. It is 45km far from Yerevan in the magic cave of Azat river. Everything speaks in this cave – the stones, the trees, the river and Geghard. The supernatural feeling maybe is because of the fourth sanctuary in the world. The spear that roman soldier pierced Christ on the cross. Two disciples of Jesus – Bartholomew and Theodore brought it to Armenia and since then it has been kept in Geghard monastery (geghard - spear). Now the spear is in Echmiatsin.

As a mysterious effect Geghard is unique in Christian world. It consists of three churches, a huge mausoleum carved into the mountain. The churches in the mountains are rich with decorated walls and most important that the columns carrying the heaviness of the dome are separated from the mountain.

So called “Avazan” church, according to the legend, the pool and the spring appeared in the mountain , when in ancient times monks wanted to be sure that the spear was real drove it into the mountain, and water  flowed out of the mountain. And so the water was considered as saint.

In the 3rd church is buried the favorite prince of Armenians Prosh Prince. He was the one that beat Jalaleldin the sultan of Khorezm and he was the founder of so called “The 3rd Athens” Gladzor university in 1280.

In the mausoleum in the huge square hall, which has an entrance only through the mountain tunnel, are buried eternal lovers – Prosh’s son Papak and Ruzakan. There is a wonderful legend about them and their mausoleum. But the mystery of Geghard is the way it is constructed. Till now world architects can not find out in what sequence the cave churches were built. The thing is that the walls of the cave are very thin and a single mishit would be enough to destroy the composition. The architect was Galdzak. There is only one inscription on the church arch: “Remember me. Galdzak”. Further architects in 14th century tied to harmonize later built gavit-jamatun and main church with Galdzak’s genius. The gavit of Geghard is the only one in Armenia with stalactite covered dome.

Gegharda-dzor (canyon) is an area of wondering legends. Timur the 1st, Shah Abas, Marko Polo and many others had come to see the monastery and had admired the Armenian genius.

KHORAKERT

In north-west of Lori district on the slope of Lalvar mountain rises Khorakert monastery assemble surrounded by thick woods. The road leading to Khorakert breathes antiquity and mysterious silence.

Entering trough the only gate the ruins of the monastery are noticed at once. Now only the main church and the walls of the gavit have persisted.

Exterior of the church doesn't differ from other Armenian architectural monuments. It is domed hall church, the gavit belongs to typical cross-winged domed buildings. In exterior or interior Khorakert doesn't have any extraordinary sculpture or fresco, but it is enough to have a look at the cupola. The extraordinary exterior look of the cupola is explained by the unusual drum, which is unique not only in Armenia but in also in world architecture. It has a decahedral shape. The facets are made not of the usual walls, but composed in the lower half out of hexahedral columns, three per each facet. Identical capitals and bases, having beads and hexahedral plates, are original. Spanned as light openings, and when bright sunlight pours in, the cupola looked at from within, seems to soar. This extremely cupola of bold treatment of the drum as a colonnade is not to be found in other monument.

The cupola of Khorakert is so wonderful, that the man inside thinks that the cupola is hung from the sky. But this is not all the scene. It would be incomplete, if the cupola was not carved from inside: on the basis of the drum 30 circled columns carry on them cross shaped arches. So the scene is complete as a unique winged cupola in the world architecture.

The inside of the cupola is also most original. The constructive basis of its hemi-sphere is made up of three pairs of interesting arches, which form a six-pointed star. The central hexagonal section is filled with stalactite-shaped ornaments. This mysterious scene captures even the most skeptics. The architect of Khorakert is unknown, as well as the date of construction. We only know that it belongs to 12th century and the cupola – to 1252. When Khorakert was abandoned no one knows: only legends have been leading to this ancient monastery.

ZVARTNOTS

Zvartnots is the biggest achievement in golden age of architecture in Armenia and it is a unique masterpiece. It has been captured many people of different nations and religions, has spelled emperors and travelers. For its wonder we owe to Armenian Catholicos Nerses Tayetsi 642-661 also known as Builder.

Before describing the temple we should mention that it was one of wonders of its times. The temple is huge. It was on the seven staired stilobate and had 59m height, three-storeyed, was entirely built of grey-blue basalt and purple tuff. The temple has been under the ground for 300 years and was destroyed by earthquake. It has been under the ground for 8 centuries and was discovered in the beginning of 1900-1907. Main excavations in Zvarntots has done architect Toromanyan.

Toromanyan in 1905 offered his sketch of the temple reconstruction showing that Zvartnots wasn’t like other Armenian architectural monuments of early medieval.

Toromanyan’s reconstruction of the temple was a cause for many quarrels about that in that century couldn’t be built a three-storeyed huge building, which upper storeys lean on arches. But soon during the excavations of Ani were found the dummy of St. Grigor church like Zvartnots, which was built by Gagik Bagratuni.

According to this reconstruction, the building consisted of three polyhedrons. The lower one being 32-hedral. and the upper one 16-hedral and crowned with a cone-shaped cupola. The central part of the interior had the shape of a tetra conch in the plan. In the joints between the apses there were mighty pylons which supported the drum of the cupola by means of spherical pendentives. Beyond the pylons there were columns arranged on the radial axis. They and the tops of the tetra conch's semicircles buttressed the arches which served as the basis for the middle polyhedron. The tetra conch was surrounded by a two-storey gallery fenced on the outer side by a circular wall with closely spaced windows and, on the inner side, by an open arcade of the apses. The altar apse was blank. The heaviness of the cupola and of the middle polyhedron was conveyed by arches and vaults of double curvature to the pylons and columns of the apses.

The decoration of Zvartnots temple followed the principle, common in the Armenian architecture of the 5th—7th centuries, of bringing out the basic architectural details: columns, door and window openings. cornices and archivolts. The outer surfaces of the polyhedrons, especially of the lower one, were ornamented with a rich arcature. The twin semi-columns were crowned with capitols with palmettes and acanthuses. On the whole, the motif of sculptural ornamentation, cut in high relief, was floral (a vine, stylized leaves, branches of pomegranate with fruit, etc.). The ornamental patterns are clear-cut, expressive, varied and unconstrainedly rhythmical. Standing out among them were interior column capitols of an original composition, shaped as wicker baskets with volutes and a cross or a monogram (with letters standing for "Nerses" and "Catholicos") between them and decorated with the figures of rampant eagles which seemed to support the cupola — a symbol of the firmament.    

Historian of that time Movses Kaghankatvatsi said, that at the temple anointment were present event the emperor of Byzantium, who was so admired by its beauty, that ordered the architects to go with him and in his capital build a monument like Zvartnots. But the order failed because the architect died in the way.

In Constantinople wasn’t built a monument like Zvartnots, but in Armenia in  several places were built many churches alike. Nerses Catholicos in his native Ishkhan village built alike church in 652-659. In the beginning of 11th century one of the governors of Ani – Gagik Bagratuni the 2nd ordered to build a temple in Ani, which was exactly presenting the architectural style and sizes of Zvartnots.

Zvartnots is the masterpiece of architectural golden age, and one of our unique obelisks. It is not occasional that in Paris on the door carvings of San Chapel temple (1243-48) is decorated Noah’s arch on Ararat mountain and on the back Zvartnots -  three-storeyed wonder.

GANDZASAR

Gandzasar architectural assemble with amazing nature around it is one of the most wonderful inheritances of Armenian nation.

Professor of Sorbonne University Sharl Dil Gandzasar considered the 3rd monument of five Armenian monuments, which are in worldwide culture.

Gandzasar monastery consists of a church and gavit. St. Hovhannes Mkrtich (John the Baptist) church is based on a cross-cupola composition (the hall dimensions are 12.3x17.75m) the four corners occupy two-storeyed galleries. The upper level is reached by steeply inclined console stairways, which tower parts have big carved stalactites on them.

The exclusively rich architectural and decorative pattern of the interior and exterior renders a particular uniqueness to the church making it one of Armenian architectural masterpieces. Long rays of vertical supports emphasize the corners of the spacious structure serving as a framework for its central part.

They are crowned by a cornice. Under the cupola there are two conches decorated with stars, circles and other ornaments. On each sail there are high decorations. On the southwestern sail the decoration is an aries head, on the southeastern and northeastern sails –bull heads, the decoration on the northwestern sail seems like a man’s face.

The drum of Gandzasar church with its rotund interior is divided by eight pairs of thin spiraled semi-columns. Of exclusive richness is the face of the raised altar which is girdled from every side by broad deeply moulded lessens, the one on top bears an inscription.

The exterior proportions of the temple follow a definite pattern. The arms of the cross are flanked by shallow bays with triangular cross-sections, which lighten the weight of the entire structure while the sharply delineated shadows they give off serve to bring out the basic parts of the façade in all their contrast.

The building rests on a high five-stepped foundation. The facades of the temple are divided by five flat blind arches. The southern and northern facades feature identical arches. Over the middle arch there is a deeply-fluted image of the cross, with a narrow wide-gabled window above. The northern wall is flanked with other ornaments above the cross there is a symbol of eternity.

The eastern façade is also divided by identical arches, but they are semi-circular. The gavit built in northern side covered the cross decoration. It is wide-winged cross with the image of Christ.

The unknown architect of the church has constructed an amazing drum. It is divided into 16 faces. Each of them is a masterpiece of decoration. The sides of each face are delineated by semi-columns. On four faces there are narrow windows with wide frames. Other four faces have round windows. All they are decorated.

On two western faces are sculptural images of churchwardens symmetrically stationed. The two figures knelt with arms outstretched and hold the church model. As researchers think, they are Hasan Jalal Dola and his son Atabek, who had ordered to construct the church. On the other face there is a decoration featuring Christ and Adam end Eve on the window frame.

On the southern three faces there are kneeling figures facing each other and halos around their heads. On the other face there are images of bull’s heads, the third contains a relief of the Virgin with child, on another one sees the bas-relief of an eagle with widespread wings.

No less remarkable is the annexe (alike to St. Nshan church in Haghpat), which adjoins the church from the west and represents a large (11.62x11.80, 3.15x3.25m) hall free of all supports with two pairs of interesting arches with a stalactite vault.

The entrance from the annexe into the temple is framed by a simply-designed portal with a semicircular arch, its casing ornamented, with a fine woven design, the tympanum filled in with implanted stars with figured spacing in the form of rhombuses.

In the eastern part of gavit are buried the members of famous Hasan-Jalalyan family: Hasan – Jala Barepasht, Baghdasar Metropolite.

On the northern corners of gavit there are carved two leopards. The most important part of gavit decoration is the frame of the entrance. It is convexed and is noticed at once. The semi-cylinder rising from the three staired foundation of the wall passes the door, becoming its frame.

Gandzasar is one of the best monuments of Armenia. In Kharabagh it is considered as the national architectural masterpiece.

HRIPSIME

Probably no other nation in the world is so much closely connected with its religion as Armenians are. Armenians affection towards their religion is explained with an inexplicable all – forgiving and all – conquering love. And along with all these we meet another mystic miracle of Armenian gene; love towards God, towards Christianity Armenians express in terms of creative execution. There is no other place in the world where Christian churches are so varied as in Armenia. They distinguish by their architectural structure, by their size, by their monumentality and gentle refinement; the church is the nation’s spirit, its way of thinking, the composition of almost every kind of folk art and the nature of God.

Hripsime church is a splendid structure of divine perfection.

This grandiose monument is in antique capital Vagharshapat, of today Echmiadzin the spiritual omphalos of Armenia.

The church was built in 618 A.D. by patriarch Komitas Shinokh. The whole church and the earth on which it stands are enveloped in heavenly mysteriousness. Its expressive silhouette is seen from every edge of Mt. Ararat.

The church is built by the system of spatial and linear perception. The church is monumental by itself and mass. In the valley it creates a seeming view of single – sided cliff, but the architecture used the way of refracting the huge walls with orderly niches and the area near the dome with external fragmented basilica cuts weakens the spinning voluminous structure and the church turns for a visitor into a graceful and kindred miracle emerging from the valley.

Structures fascinations of which are based on externally made visual mirage are unique in the world. Such structures are, for example, Taj Mahal and  Hripsime. It’s impossible to imagine the dimensions and the immensity of Hripsime church from afar, basically the walls of the church with the linear – effected niches rising continuously are to create voluminous perception of the mass, but the architecture with a very cunning detail could break such a natural perception.

Unlike the Armenian tradition of building churches the barrel of the dome of Hripsime church is shortened. Due to it the cover of the dome is like a spread cone, and even from a little distance a man’s glance naturally scanning the rising walls of the church suddenly stops at the cover of the dome a little strange but at the same time harmonic with the whole silhouette.

Only when approaching the church one feels how it mysteriously becomes bigger with each step and near the walls it takes advantage of one’s feelings fully like a pink chandelier hanging over the azure.

In order to emphasize the visual perception of the dome and to make the abruption of it from the general view of the church more significant, the architect used externally incomprehensible small towers, which touch closely the barrel. First of all as an engineering concept they are special force distributors which take some of the weight of the dome and the drum and the most important is that the architect somehow created a three – dimensional view. If it were possible to look at the church from above then we would see that the church is like a creatively designed stub on which a big mushroom has grown up with other small mushrooms touching the roots of it from every quarter.

And all these in the position of perfect symmetry create a picture of refinement and paradisiacal perception.

The decoration of the building is extremely modest. It has an ascetic restraint in it, which imparts special greatness to it.  The outward appearance of the church is rectangular and internally it is cross central domed. This type of church – building is an achievement of the Armenian architecture. On the inside one feels the grandeur attractiveness of the church harmonized with an impeccable simplicity of Christianity. The cruciform plan of the church is designed by special spherical niches on the corners of flanks of the cross in an imaginary form of gradually bursting buds. Internally the whole greatness of the church is centered in the dome.

The whole interior of the church is absorbed and fused in the domical circle. The big tensile cupola leaned on four giant domical abutments creates a commodious, tight and voluminous perception. The inner perispheric structure of the cupola is designed more than usual, from the very centre of the dome to the circle of the barrel 12 trompes are trailed evenly making an amazing view of the radiant luminary, which are the symbol of Christ and his 12 apostles.

The lightning of the church is also great. It is basically done by plentiful light penetrating through the big windows situated in each face of the sixteen – facet cupola.

The shrine of the church is in eastern apses under the main chancel, where there is a passage through the northern sacristy. Here St. Hripsime is buried, and the history of the adoption of Christianity in Armenia is associated with her name.

In the past a chapel had been built on her grave in 303 AD, on which in 618 AD this miraculous church was built by Komitas.

St. Hripsime church is unforgivable standing against the background of an emerald – green Ararat valley and luminous peak of ancient Mt. Ararat. That’s why UNESCO acknowledged St. Hripsime church as a treasury of the world’s architecture, one of the main contributions of the Armenian nation.

NORAVANQ

The most significant monastery of Vayots Dzor is Noravanq located 110km south-west from Yerevan.

Noravanq is really unique in world architecture; it was built in 13th-14th centuries. The monastic complex includes two churches, one porch and two tombs; it also includes three basilica jamatuns, dated 5th-6th centuries A.D.

It becomes an unforgettable moment of life for anyone who visits Noravanq, it’s like a journey to the Legend. Even the road leading to Noravanq takes one’s breath. The huge, almost adjoined each other cliffs and the road nearly going into them reminds visitors a seeming natural trap.

And suddenly a small valley surrounded by hills appears. The view of brick-red cliffs hidden in green bushes is so amazing that you can’t describe it in words, and on the forbidding peak under the sun the wonder of Armenian thought shines made of apricot tuffs.

Even nowadays in our century of technology the main church of S. Karapet and its porch seem to be unimaginable and not of human making. Not to repeat the design of Noravanq anywhere the architect Siranes and particularly the last genius of medieval Armenia Momik had done their best.

Here, on the front access of the porch a unique sculpture with the image – bearing symbol of God the father and the creation of man is chiseled. It’s a huge hipped dome without columns which seems to rise from the floor is like a Roman pantheon but a little bit smaller.

The tombs of powerful Orbelian family are also unique where the combination of light and structure is thought up intricately. Here the tomb of Prince Smbat Orbelian is lightening up only on July 12 at 10:00am on his birthday, when the ray of light falls out of the window directly on the lion’s face of the gravestone. It’s amazing, seems like Armenian repeat the secrets and create a spiritual bond between Ramses and Smbat.

And Burtelashen is an original three – tier composition, the masterpiece of Momik, built by order of Prince Burtel as a memorial church. Again a message is sent to the deep past of the humanity to the Babylon and Egypt, but with a qualitative emphasis of Armenian spirit. A three – tier composition of the memorial church, according to Christianity, describes the path which one’s soul should pass, when the body commits to the earth; on the first floor as a purgatory, the soul is cleansed of earthly sins and soars up to the second floor, that to say, to the heaven – crowning the marvelous bright rotunda where the pure heaven and the apricot graceful composition of rotunda is.

This monument is supplemented with several khachkars which are the works of art of the craftsman Momik called “aseghnagorts” (which means embroiderer). At the end we should mention that genius Momik was buried in Noravanq and according to his will his small and modestly decorated tomb khachkar is a perfect value of man’s greatness not looking for celestial glory and presenting Holy Sacrament gratis to people.