Gandzasar XIII century

There are monuments which concentrate in themselves everything created by people during many decades and centuries, is converted for the future generations into the symbols, which personify popular wisdom and picturesqueness of its thinking. For Artsakh such monument is its great miracle Gandzasar, which proudly sits in glory on the high hill of the left bank of river Khachen. The building of the cathedral church of monastery was started in 1216 and completed in 1238. In 1266 was finished the building of the vestibule, which is attached to the church from the western side. The construction inscription of temple says:

" By the name of holy trinity, father and son and holy spirit inscription her commanded to carve, servant of a God, Djalal Dola Hasan, the son Of Vakhtang, the grandson of great Hasan, the lord of the region Artsakh, king of Khokhanaberd. My father before his death he bequeathed to me and my mother Khorishap, daughter of the great prince Sargis to build this church and cemetery of our fathers in Gandzasar, construction of which we started in 765 year of Armenian chronology (1216) with the aid of the God. When they elevated the eastern wall higher than our window, my mother, after denying the secular life, third time left for Jerusalem, where, after putting on hair shirt and after spending many years in recluse’s life at the gates of the temple of Resurrection, she rested in Christ during the day of Easter, and she was there given to the earth. We, remembering about many misfortunes, which happened to us in the life, hurried to complete the building and finished with favor and with the blessings of god in 1238 ".
The historians of this period, in particular Kirakos Gandzaketsi, with admiration tells about the building of monastery and its solemn sanctification" He built excellent building for the church, similar to celestial domelike temple, for the glory of God, which is called Gandzasar, opposite to Khokhanaberd, on the spot of their tomb and many years worked in it ".

According to the historians, during religious festivities the number of priests was 700.

It was sanctified in 1240, on the day of festivities of Vardavar (on 22^nd July, which was Sunday). From the historical documents are known that the church was a place of religious and political meetings for Armenians from the neighboring Armenian provinces and from Artsakh.

Before the construction of the cathedral, there were churches and architectural complexes. About which are witnessing khachqars dating back to 1174, 1182, 1202.

It seems the previous church did not have prestigious architectural appearance, which would correspond to the power of principality of Khachen. Because of that, Hasan Djalal ordered to build a monastery, which would not be unsurpassed for centuries.

After a short time Gandzasar become a center of cultural life of Artsakh and it became also as a residency of the Catholicos of Eastern part of Armenia. By the end of XVII century Gandzasar also became a center of national-liberation movement, and Catholicos Esai became a leader of the movement.

The cloister complex of Gandzasar, which consists in essence of the church and an vestibule, which are in composition unity, as if its component parts were elevated simultaneously, also, according to the united concept. The church of Hovhannes Mkrtich has rectangular shape from outside and cross-shaped from inside central- domelike construction, with the two-story sacristies on four corners. To the upper sacristies lead the cantilever stairs the lower parts if its are decorated with stalactites.

Architectural and decorative attire are in composite harmony with each other, which allows considering the church one of the best achievements of Armenian art.

The exclusively rich architectural and decorative pattern of the interior and exterior renders a particular uniqueness to the church. It has long rays of vertical supports - simple and monumental - emphasize the corners of the spacious structure, serving as a framework for its central part. They are crowned by a cornice that is just as simple in design, consisting of two convex bands of the cymatium and a corona .The semi-circular tops of the narrow windows (one apiece on the northern, southern and western sides) is ornamented with deep flutes culminating in a fan-shaped decor. The slightly lancet arches rising over the crossbeam layout have a three-stepped profile.

The area under kupola of a sail is decorated by the interlaced geometric and stylized plant ornaments, grouped in the form of two rectangles on each sail. In the upper part of each sail under the belt, which borders the basis of arch, the high reliefs are placed. On the southwestern sail the head of ram, on northeast and southeast head of bulls and anthropomorphous image on the northwestern sail are placed.
     The drum of the cupola of temple has a form of cylinder and is divided from within into eight equal parts by eight pairs of narrow vertical semi columns

     The excellent sample of thread on the stone is the face of elevation of altar. On its rectangular surface, framed by rods, are cut eight ornamented trapezoids with triangles between them. The latter is in the central section for creating light and shade deepening. All trapezoids and triangles, without exception, are covered with the complex interlacing of ornaments. The external volumes of church sufficiently clearly and laconically reproduce the internal crosslike composition of building. High pediments separate the wings of crosses, the shallow triangular bays process the facades of walls, which not only visually decreases the mass of the building and it gives completeness to it, but also shades the basic internal breakdown of the temple. In decorative sense each of the walls of church is processed uniquely. Northern and Southern facades are decorated with five arches, whose parts, in particular their ornamental adornments, strictly correspond to the architecture of entire building. Above the central arch of northern side there is a large cross, framed in symbol of eternity (rosette with radially located arcs). Under the analogous arch on the southern wall is there is window opening with rich ornamented cover plate, a little higher is placed a rosette decorated with pointed petals. Eastern side is also decorated with arches. Central arch raises higher of all and frames narrow window aperture. On the western wall, whose significant part is hidden behind the eastern colonnade of vestibule, above the portal of the entrance into the church there is a skillful reproduction of Christ's crucifix. Along both sides of sufficiently large-winged cross is the image of crucified Christ and two genuflection figures.

The church of Hovhannes Mkrtich is crowned with high cupola. Polyhedral drum with the original bas-reliefs and the rosettes and the fan-shaped roofing is given majestic and at the same time elegant form to cupola. The drum of the cupola of next narrow adjacent semi columns is divided into 16 faces. Columns are decorated with bas-relief images.
     For each of eight faces it is cut on one triangular niche with ornamented semi column from inside. Remaining faces are flat, on four of them are narrow windows, bordered by the wide cover plates, covered with complex and elegant thread. Tops of window apertures are located along one richly ornamented rosette. Remaining four faces have small circular windows with the wide borders, separated by lace of ornamental patterns.

On two western faces with the niches are placed sculptural images of two ktitoros. Their external features are identical. Each of them holds in one hand the model of church. The Christ is depicted on the pediment of face. On the third face, higher than the window frame, are placed the images of Adam and Eva with the appropriate inscriptions. Above three niches of southern faces are placed the genuflection figures with the persons with the haloes above their heads. Above other niches are depicted the head of a bull, Mother of God with the baby, the head of eagle and so forth all these sculptural images are augmented by the successfully arranged and thoroughly processed ornamental motives- stars, colors, open strips and tapes.
     The vestibule, which adjoins the temple, gives more one-piece and monumental form to the entire complex. The vestibule of Gandzasar, similar to the vestibule of the church Surb Nshan (holy sign) of monastery Haghpat, is a hall with two columns and with two pairs of the crossing arches with the stalactite vault.

The gavit of Gandzasar is impressive construction not only because of its dimensions, but also because of its architectural value. In this unique monument brightly solved the problem of internal space of the building. From the western side the hall adjoins the narrow space, isolated from major portions of gavit by two dioctahedral massive columns, on which rest the ends of the longitudinal arch.
The semicircular timbrel of the portal of the entrance, which leads from the vestibule into the church, is ornamented by fine thread, and the decorative arch, which borders timbrel with stars and trapezoids. Between the western arches, at the level of bottom edges, the wide ornamented cross is placed. Area under the arch, which passes above the portal of entrance, is finished by chess ornament and belts with the interlaced pattern. The basic adornment of inside vestibule are stalactites, different figures in the form of rhombs, chess rosettes, small weavings, stars, etc.

Vestibule served as ancestral tomb for Djalal family. In the eastern part of the vestibule rest many famous representatives of family of Hasan Djalal, starting with Hasan Djalal, many other pious and spiritual fathers of its time ending with metropolitanBaghdasar.
     Vestibule from the outer side is sufficiently simple. This is rectangular construction with the octahedral light rotunda in the center. In the upper angles of the portal of entrance, on the northern wall, two bas-reliefs with the image of panther are placed.

In the southwestern part of the southern facade there is window, bordered with four wing cross. In décor of vestibule main place occupies its western portal, undertaken into the dual framing. With the elegance and perfection, is completed the thread of the face of the side door.

Besides the church and its vestibule Gandzasar it is encircled by fence and includes the series of habitable and economic compartments. In the court of complex, from the northern side, eight cells and two large rooms are attached to the fence. On the Eastern side of the complex there is a old two store building which served as a school and then as living quarters for the cloister fraternity.