Монастырь Мармашен (Ваграмаберд, Армения)

Шаблон:Churcht Marmashen Monastery (Vahramaberd. Armenia) Монастырь Мармашен (Вахрамаберд. Армения) Marmashen Monastery

Founding Century: X Region: Shirak Location: Vahramaberd village

The impressive monastery of Marmashen is located in the Northwest of Gymri. This complex sits on a picturesque shelf with fruit trees above the Akhurian River beside a stream that ends in a waterfall. The Katoghike Church of Saint Stepanos was built by Vahram Pahlavuni, whose gravestone is in the ruins of a gavit dating back to 988-1029. The gavit itself is 13th century. Astvatsatsin Church and St. Petros Church are side by side with remnants of a fourth, nearly circular church, along with foundations of a pre-Christian temple and many service buildings. The complex was destroyed by the Seljuk Turks and rebuilt by Vahram’s grandsons.

http://www.armeniainfo.am/sites/?section=religiousOn the wall of the main church the signs of the once standing "gavit" are visibleМармашенская церковь. Ваграмаберд X-XI вв. (08/10/2005)

http://armenia.dag.com.ua/erevan/photo.php?56571 http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/iaa_architecture/marmashen.htm

MARMASHEN

Type: Dome single nave Location: On the banks of the Akhurean River a few kilometers form the city of Leninakan/Gumri near the ancient village of Vahramashen. Date: Xth-XI c. Evidence for date: Important details: State of preservation: Reconstruction: Summary: The complex is composed of three churches of various dimensions whose east walls are in almost perfect alignment. They reproduce the plan of a longitudinal domed hall already adopted in the VIIth century at T'alish and Pt'ghni. The main church, once preceded by a porch which has now disappeared, has exterior walls regularly subdivided by small blind arcades. These arcades likewise surround the portals and the triangular north and south niches as they do at Ani.. The polygonal drum is subdivided by grouped colonnades set at the angles and surmounted by an umbrella shaped roof. The monastery also had a fourth church whose ruins clearly show a plan very similar to that of St. Sergius in the nearby monastery at Khtskonk, i.e., a tetraconch inscribed in a cylinder.

Bibliography: Alich 1881 151-154 Lynch 1901 I, 131-132 Eprik 1903 132-136 Strz 1918 200 e segg, 514 e segg, 703 e segg Torom 1942 315-318 Torom 1948 32-34,137,175-6, 235-341 Iacob 1950 82-83 Harut 1951 50-51 Tokar 1961 226 Kraut 1965 234 Sark 1966 240-241 AMA 1968 106 AA 1981 20-21