| Duration: | 3 Day(s) - 2 Night(s) |
| Tour Category: | Monastery Tours |
Sevanavank Monastery
Day 1: Arrival
Day 2: Deaprture to Sevanavank Monastery
Sevanavank (meaning Sevan Monastery) is a monastic complex located on a peninsula at the northwestern shore of Lake Sevan in the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia, not far from the town of Sevan. Initially, the monastery was built at the southern shore of a small island.
Day 3: Departure home
Transfer to the airport. Departure home!
For the price please contact us.
Know More About Sevanavank Monastery:
In the northwest part of Sevan Lake, on a narrow rocky peninsula, there stands one of the most prominent examples of medieval Armenian architecture – Sevanavank Monastery. In ancient times, the peninsula was a stand-alone island. It was separated from the shore by 3 km of transparent water full of fish, which were caught by the monastery. The monks first arrived there at the end of the 8th century, and they built a small chapel and few cells.
The island position was so convenient that the growing monastic brotherhood started to build a monastery there. First, they cut a ledge in the rock and laid big stone blocks on it. Very soon the wall gained a watchtower, and a little gate surrounded the island. Later three churches, cells, and other structures were constructed.
The remnants of the monastery that was constructed in the 9th century include only two temples – Surb Arakelots and Surb Astvatsatsin, standing among numerous khachkars. The church buildings were constructed from black tuff, which probably gave the monastery its name Sevanavank - “the Black Monastery”. The churches are cross-shaped buildings.
Inside the main remaining church is an interesting khachkar. Not only is this khachkar one of the handful that features Jesus Christ, but the carving is intricate and detailed (despite the toughness of the stone). The image of Christ has distinctly Mongol features since it replicates the style that was common in the 12th-13th centuries. At that time, Mongol armies were coming into Armenia, but they wouldn’t touch the churches if they saw that the images of holy figures looked like Mongols. The rest of the designs tell stories from the Bible, and heavily feature motifs from carpets.
Today the two black temples of Sevan stand deserted like two guards of this ancient lake. The view from there is simply magnificent: the mountains surround the lake from all sides and snow tops are seen almost on the entire perimeter and disappear behind the horizon. And behind the horizon of the dark blue open water space shrouded in fog are the green mountain slopes whose tops are covered with snow even in summer.
