St. Gevork Monastery of Mughni

🔍 Research history

Shahkhatunyants (XIX century register), H. Yeghiazaryan. (archaeologist-historian, mid XX century), S. Saghumyan (lithographer, 1998), Hasratyan M.M. (architect, last quarter of the XX century).

🧱 Archaeological description

Location
The monastery complex consists of St. Gevork church, the enclosure, the refectory adjacent to it in the north-east, residential and economic buildings, and the reservoir.

Stratigraphy
The date of the monastery foundation of is unknown. According to the legend, Nerses the Great brought and buried St. Gevorg’s body in Hovhannavank, then, probably in the XIII century, his relics were moved first to Karbi, and then found their final resting place in Mughni. In the XIII-XV centuries the monastery was not only a holy place, but also a spiritual and cultural center, where cross-stones were created and manuscripts were copied. In the XVII century, the monastery prospered. In the days of Philip the Catholicos (1633-1655), Bishop Martiros demolished the former St. Gevork small church and useless buildings to build a beautiful church on four pillars, the enclosure and houses adjacent to it. However, the rough-hewn stone church of Martiros did not exist long, and the next Hovhannes bishop, following him, undertook the construction of the current church and the belfry-hallway with hewn stones, for which he invited the famous architect Sahak Khizantsi. According to Zakaria Kanakertsi’s report and the church construction record, the church construction began and ended in 1664-1669. Unfortunately, both Bishop Hovhannes and Sahak Khizantsi did not see the result of their initiative, because of their impending deaths. The construction of the church was completed by Hovhannes’ nephew Davit and Sahak’s son-in-law Murad in 1670.

Back in 1580 the Episcopalian monastery reaches the end of its development in the 19th century, when the monastery is renovated several times and a special school is founded.

The last renovation was done in 1999-2000 under the care of M. Archbishop Ashchyan. It was re-consecrated by Catholicos Garegin II on October 8, 2000. The last Saturday of September is the monastery covenant day.

Architecture
The complex consists of a church and civil-economic buildings located in a quadrangular fenced area. The church is diagonally

built in the center of the courtyard, and the group of monastic buildings – the refectory and living cells – are in the north-eastern corner of the courtyard. Another building is attached to the south-eastern corner of the enclosure, and there is a reservoir built in the form of a vaulted chapel in the courtyard, on the north-western side. The main entrance to the enclosure is on the northern side, another small door opens on the western side.

St. Gevork church reproduces the early medieval “domed basilica” type with its plan and spatial composition. The middle nave of the prayer hall ends on the eastern side with a semi-circular senior altar, while the side ones end with two-story small vaults: St. Gevork’s relics are held in the northern one. The great apse has a high, overhanging stage with four staircases on either side. The transition from a domed square to a cylindrical drum crowned with a fan-shaped crown is made by means of sails. The church is well lit by eight large windows in the drum and three windows in the four facades.

The three-arch vaulted open hall was built on the western side at the same time as the church: the belfry crowned with a 12-column rotunda rises on its middle ground. The main entrance is on the western side, and there is another one on the southern side.

Among the exterior decorative elements are the ornaments of the porches and windows and the multi-colored means of composition with a combination of black and orange tuff stones, with a layered arrangement on the drum and a chess-like arrangement on the facades.

The bas-reliefs symbolizing the four evangelists on the drum of the dome are accompanied by inscriptions of their names.

XIX century frescoes probably done by Yeznak Kamsarakan are preserved on the walls of the Upper Tabernacle. They feature images of saints and plot scenes. XVI century inscripted cross-stones are built in the walls of the church.

🌍 Significance

It is a classic example of the XVII century architecture. St. Gevork’s relics are kept in the monastery. It was a place of pilgrimage not only for Armenians, but for Georgians and Persians as well.

📜 Traditional legends 

Some of St. Gevork’s relics were taken to Georgia to treat Prince Bejo. By the time they got there, the prince was dead. The Georgian king never returned the relics and built a church to store them.

📚 Sources

Literature

1. Arakel Davrizhetsi 1988, History, (translation, preface and notes by V. Arakelyan), Yerevan, “Soviet writer”, 592 pages. 
2. Zakaria Kanakertsi 2013, Historiography, Translation and annotations by V. Arakelyan, Yerevan, “Armenia”, 272 pages. 
3. Harutyunyan V. 1992, History of Armenian Architecture, Yerevan, “Luys”, 632 pages.
4.  Saghumyan S. 1998, Ashtarak. Historical gaps, monuments, lithographic inscriptions, Yerevan, “Science”, 346 pages.

List of monuments.
Aragatsotn 2.1.1/7

📷 Gallery

1. Plan of St. Gevork Church of Mughni (Harutyunyan 1992, 386) 
2. View of the church from the west (A. Babajanyan)
3. The drum, the belfry 
4. The western porch (A. Babajanyan) 
5. The inscription on the construction – outside, under the northern arch of the western wall 
6. Mural “The Crowning of Tiridates by Gregory the Illuminator” (A. Babajanyan) 
7. Upper Tabernacle (A. Babajanyan) 
8. The reservoir
9. 7th century monument in the courtyard of the monastery (A. Babajanyan) 
10. 986 cross-stone on the eastern wall of the refectory near the pedestal (A. Babajanyan)