Vorotnavank

Vorotnavank (the monastery of Vaghatni) is located 2 km to the south-west of the village of Vaghatni of Syunik Marz (region), on the edge of the gorge of the Vorotan River. Back in the early 4th century, St. Gregory the Illuminator (Grigor Lusavorich) built the church of St. Gregory (Grigor) here. It was a famous place of pilgrimage, which had been glorified for its healing properties, especially the stronger property from the snakebite. Now the Church of St. Gregory (Grigor) does not exist. The monasteric complex consists of two churches, the narthex (gavit), and outbuildings. In 1000, the Queen of Syunik Shahandukht built the vaulted church of St. Stephanos Nakhavka (Protomartyr) near the church of St. Grigor. It has two vestries, sanctuary and narthex (gavit). The church of St. Karaped of the monastery was built in 1007 by the count of Syunik, Sevada. In the courtyard of the monastery, the queen Shahandukht set up a colony – rod on the model of Tatev monastery, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1931. The Church of St. Karapet is a cruciform domed building with three altars. In the four corners are located vestries. The church was decorated with frescoes inside. On the preserved part of the fresco is pictured a starry blue sky, with an angel in the center. To the two churches are adjacent porticos, which served as a cemetery of genus of count. Here were buried the founders of the monastery - the queen Shahandukht and her son Sevada. The monastery was surrounded by a fence, but only the ruins have preserved. All the buildings of the monastery were built of the local basalt. The monastery was destroyed during the invasions of the Seljuk Turks and the Mongols. Vorotnavank was the center of a rewriting of ancient manuscripts. Famous Armenian philosophers Hovhannes Vorotnetsi, Grigor Tatevatsi and others lived and worked.