SAGHMOSAVANK

This elegant monastery dedicated to the psalms, hence its name Saghmosavank, was built like Hovannavank under the Vatchoutian princes. It consists of four buildings forming a compact ensemble, surmounted by the domes of the church of Saint Zion (1215), the jamatoun and a library, joined in 1255, in a rotunda. The narthex and the library, with its robust walls inlaid with crosses, are decorated with sculptures enhanced with red pigment, as are the interior vaults, imitating star inlays. The khatchkar to the north of the monastery date from the 13th-15th centuries.