DADIVANK MONASTERY

This monastery, one of the largest in Karabagh and Armenia, comprises some twenty buildings, scattered among dense vegetation, at the foot of the highest peak in the region, Mount Mrav (3,700 m). It is of major importance to Christian Armenia, since it is said to have been founded in the 1st century on the tomb of the apostle Saint Thadaeus, who evangelized Armenia with Bartholomew. Destroyed by the Turks in 1150, it was rebuilt in the 12th and 13th centuries and flourished under the Vakhtanguian princes. Restored, the 20 buildings of ochre stone with rustic modenature, are divided into 3 groups

: A religious group in the north, around the cathedral, built in 1214. It served as the burial place of Vakhtang and his two sons, represented nimbed in bas-reliefs, because they died before seeing their church built. A very original chapel with a tiled dome stands in the adjacent courtyard, and houses a 12th century khatchkar created for the Armenian prince Hassan the Great who retired there at the end of a 40-year reign. To the west, there are several gavits, the most interesting of which is a vast room topped by a pyramidal dome with an openwork centre. Finally, at the end of the gallery in front of the cathedral, a rustic campanile houses two very elaborate khatchkars

The conventual buildings to the south

Secular buildings, monks' cells, visitors' hostel and others, in ruins