Tatev Monastery
Ninth-century monastery on a basalt spur above the Vorotan gorge, reached by a long aerial tramway.
The monastery occupies a basalt promontory above the Vorotan gorge in Syunik and grew from a small ninth-century foundation into the seat of the bishops of Syunik. Its principal church, Saints Paul and Peter, was consecrated in 906 under Prince Ashot and the bishop Hovhannes, and was originally covered with wall paintings by artists brought from abroad. The smaller Saint Gregory church of 1295 and the fourteenth-century Saint Astvatsatsin chapel stand within the same fortified enclosure, alongside a refectory, oil press and bell tower.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Tatev housed one of the leading universities of medieval Armenia, where Hovhan Vorotnetsi and Grigor Tatevatsi taught theology, philosophy and manuscript illumination. An earthquake in 1931 brought down the dome of the main church and the bell tower, and reconstruction has continued in stages ever since. In the monastery courtyard stands the Gavazan, an octagonal pillar of 904 that rocks on its hinged base. Since 2010 the site has been reached by the Wings of Tatev cableway, 5.7 kilometres long.
Highlights
- Church of Saints Paul and Peter, consecrated in 906
- Gavazan, a rocking memorial pillar erected in 904
- Site of the medieval University of Tatev
- Wings of Tatev cableway, 5.7 kilometres from Halidzor
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