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Saghmosavank

Saghmosavank was a renowned religious, academic and cultural centre of medieval Armenia. It is situated on a protuberance on the right bank of the Kasakh Gorge. The place where the monastery is located is beautiful. Important elements of its panorama are Mount Aragats, Mount Ara and the deep Khasakh Gorge. The gorge has vertical tufa and andesinite rocks and a depth of 200m closer to the monastery. A cave was discovered across from the monastery in the gorge with color rock paintings (XI-X millennia BC), which are unique in the entire Near East.

The monastic complex consist of two churches-St. Sion and St. Astvatsatsin, a narthex and a library.

The oldest is St Sion Church (1215), which Prince Vacheh Vachoutyan built for his wife Mamakhatoun. On the outside, it is a rectangular and on the inside - a cruciform church with two-storey sacristies in its 4 corners.

Attached to the western part of the main church is the Narthex (1235) with its 4 central columns.

St. Astvatsatsin Church (1235) was located in the southern wing of the main church. It is a small mononave, vaulted church with a semi-circular altar and a unique main entrance of the western door with an arch sitting on double semi-columns, the top f which has a graded ending.

Library. In XIIIc., Saghmosavanq was already known as a house of script and academic centre, and the issue of building a separate library was high on the agenda.