Goshavank
Encyclopedia
Goshavank is a 12-13th century Armenian monastery located in the village of Gosh
in the Tavush Province of Armenia
. Today the monastery is not a functioning religious complex, although it remains a popular tourist destination and has recently undergone some light restoration. The impressive monastery which has remained in relatively good condition also houses one of the world's finest examples of a khachkar
.
At Goshavank, Mkhitar Gosh founded a school. One of its alumni, an Armenian scientist by the name of Kirakos Gandzaketsi
wrote The History of Armenia. The architect Mkhitar the Carpenter and his disciple Hovhannes also took an active part in the building of the monastery. The complex was later renamed Goshavank and the village named Gosh in his honor.
Numerous religious and monumental civil buildings show that in the twelfth to thirteenth centuries the monastery was full of life.
The churches are decorated in accordance with the traditions of the time. As a rule, the door portals and windows are framed in rectangular or arched platbands some of which are profiled. The façade niches have multifoil or scalloped tops like those of the niches of the main church at Geghard
. The unusual and artistically framed sun dial on the southern façade is an eye-catching decorative element.
It is a small vaulted structure. The bottom of the altar apse is trimmed by a graceful arcature topped with a band which is ornamented with an intricate geometrical pattern and garlands of alternating trefoils and spheres. The columns of the interior lining the sides of the apse and supporting the wall arch of the arched floor are covered with twisted flutings and fillets; a floral ornament of an ingenious design fills the middle of the lintels of the doors leading to annexes.
The exterior decoration of the church is also rich. The graceful arcature with ornamented spandrels, engirdling the edifice, is topped with half-arches on the corners. This creates not only an interesting decoration of the facets of the edifice, but also a smoother transition of the arcature from one facade to the other. The decoration of the butt facades, especially of the western one, is divided in height into separate parts to produce an impression of a substantial size.
The framings of the twin window of the eastern facade and of the western entrance are original. The tympanum
of the pointed arch of the latter is filled with a fine ornament composed of an intricate interlacement of floral shoots forming a combination of rosettes of various sizes. A similar ornament covers lintel stones, abaci of the columns, individual parts of the archivolt and a hand of eight-pointed stars trimming the portal in a rectangular frame.
The carving is so perfect that the overall impression is that of an openwork lace. The distinctiveness and richness of the church’s decoration evidence the artistic taste and consummate skill of the craftsmen who created it.
, and are found behind the church of S. Grigor Luysavorich. There is also a single chapel found behind St. Gregory Church.
Then, a two-floor bell-tower was built over the book depository. The construction was carried out in two stages. Eight wall-attached abutments and a stone roofing consisting of two pairs of intersecting arches were constructed in the book depository for the cross-plan superstructure. The top floor was elevated only to the height of two rows of stone masonry, as evidenced by the incomplete half-columns situated on the facades. In the second stage, accomplished in 1291 by the patrons Dasapet and Karapet, the top — a small church with two altar apses, crowned with a multicolumn rotund belfry — was completed. The entrance to the church was from the roof of the auditorium by a cantilever stone stair.
The decoration of the building was rather modest. The book depository’s semi-circular and dihedral grooved abutments were topped with plain slabs with the lower corners sloped in the shape of trefoils. The roofings of the corner sections, designed on the false vault principle, are composed of triangles differing in size and shape and arranged in such a way as to form eight-pointed stars. The decoration and design of the base of the rotund belfry, which reproduces in stone modified details of the “glkhatun” wooden tent, is more imposing. The bell-tower was taller than Grigor church, and therefore dominated Goshavank ensemble.
The outer appearance of the building is marked by the gradation of its bulks from the heavy bottom part to the openwork top which emphasizes the domination of the vertical in the building’s composition. The architectural peculiarities of the composition of the bell-tower influenced the design of the structures like the two-story sepulchral churches in Yeghvard and Noravank
built in Armenia in the second quarter of the fourteenth century.
The khachkar
s created by the carver Pavgos in Goshavank stand out among the rest. The best of them is a 1291 khachkar with the maker’s name carved in the bottom left star, which is one of the most intricate examples in existence. The finely carved lacy ornaments are arranged in layers in which the basic elements of the composition — a cross on a shield-shaped rosette and eight-pointed Starr filling the corners of the middle-cross section—show clearly. The intricate openwork ornaments vary — a clear-cut geometrical pattern constitutes the background, and the accentuating elements form a complicated combination of a floral and geometrical ornament which never repeats itself.
, an important forest in north-eastern Armenia. http://whc.unesco.org/news/11newsen.htm
Gosh, Armenia
Gosh is a village located in the Tavush Province of Armenia. It is named after Mkhitar Gosh who took part in the re-building of the older monastery of Nor Ghetik during the 12th-13th centuries, which had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1188. The newly built monastery was later named Goshavank...
in the Tavush Province of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
. Today the monastery is not a functioning religious complex, although it remains a popular tourist destination and has recently undergone some light restoration. The impressive monastery which has remained in relatively good condition also houses one of the world's finest examples of a khachkar
Khachkar
A khachkar or khatchkar is a carved, cross-bearing, memorial stele covered with rosettes and other botanical motifs. Khachkars are characteristic of Medieval Christian Armenian art found in Armenia.-Description:...
.
History
Goshavank was erected in the place of an older monastery once known as Nor Getik, which had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1188. Mkhitar Gosh, a statesman, scientist and author of numerous fables and parables as well as the first criminal code, took part in the rebuilding of the monastery.At Goshavank, Mkhitar Gosh founded a school. One of its alumni, an Armenian scientist by the name of Kirakos Gandzaketsi
Kirakos Gandzaketsi
Kirakos of Gandzak was an Armenian historian of the 13th century and author of the History of Armenia, a summary of events from the 4th to the 12th century and a detailed description of the events of his own days. The work concentrates primarily on the history of Medieval Armenia and events...
wrote The History of Armenia. The architect Mkhitar the Carpenter and his disciple Hovhannes also took an active part in the building of the monastery. The complex was later renamed Goshavank and the village named Gosh in his honor.
Complex
Goshavank does not have outer walls, and is surrounded by village homes. All of the buildings are attached to each other except for S. Hripsime Chapel, which is located on the opposite hillside and within view.Numerous religious and monumental civil buildings show that in the twelfth to thirteenth centuries the monastery was full of life.
The churches are decorated in accordance with the traditions of the time. As a rule, the door portals and windows are framed in rectangular or arched platbands some of which are profiled. The façade niches have multifoil or scalloped tops like those of the niches of the main church at Geghard
Geghard
For the town, see Geghard, Armenia.The monastery of Geghard is a unique architectural construction in the Kotayk province of Armenia, being partially carved out of the adjacent mountain, surrounded by cliffs...
. The unusual and artistically framed sun dial on the southern façade is an eye-catching decorative element.
S. Astvatsatsin
The main churches belong to the types widespread in the tenth to the thirteenth centuries; the domed tall or the cross-winged domed building with four annexes in the corners of the central crossing.Grigor Lusavorich Church
Grigor Lusavorich Church in Goshavank, started in 1237 and finished by Prince Grigor-Tkha in 1241, while being true to the type of Armenia’s fifth-century basilicas, is distinguished by the extravagance of its decorations. The small interior has intricate carvings over most of the surface.It is a small vaulted structure. The bottom of the altar apse is trimmed by a graceful arcature topped with a band which is ornamented with an intricate geometrical pattern and garlands of alternating trefoils and spheres. The columns of the interior lining the sides of the apse and supporting the wall arch of the arched floor are covered with twisted flutings and fillets; a floral ornament of an ingenious design fills the middle of the lintels of the doors leading to annexes.
The exterior decoration of the church is also rich. The graceful arcature with ornamented spandrels, engirdling the edifice, is topped with half-arches on the corners. This creates not only an interesting decoration of the facets of the edifice, but also a smoother transition of the arcature from one facade to the other. The decoration of the butt facades, especially of the western one, is divided in height into separate parts to produce an impression of a substantial size.
The framings of the twin window of the eastern facade and of the western entrance are original. The tympanum
Tympanum (architecture)
In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....
of the pointed arch of the latter is filled with a fine ornament composed of an intricate interlacement of floral shoots forming a combination of rosettes of various sizes. A similar ornament covers lintel stones, abaci of the columns, individual parts of the archivolt and a hand of eight-pointed stars trimming the portal in a rectangular frame.
The carving is so perfect that the overall impression is that of an openwork lace. The distinctiveness and richness of the church’s decoration evidence the artistic taste and consummate skill of the craftsmen who created it.
Chapels
The double chapels are attached to the gavitGavit
A gavit or zhamatun is often contiguous to the west of a church in a Medieval Armenian monastery. It served as narthex , mausoleum and assembly room.-History:...
, and are found behind the church of S. Grigor Luysavorich. There is also a single chapel found behind St. Gregory Church.
Gavit of St. Astvatsatsin Church
The gavit of S. Astvatsatsin Church belongs to the most common square plan, with roofing supported by four internal abutments. It has a squat octahedral tents above the central section, making it similar in structure to the Armenian peasant home of the glkhatun type. The gavit has small annexes in the corners of the eastern side of the building. Decorated with various rosettes, these sections contain sculptures of human figures in monks' attires, carrying crosses, staffs, and birds.Bell-tower and book depository
The book depository with a bell-tower in Goshavank is a structure of unusual composition. Originally, before 1241. there had been in its place a small building with niches for keeping books with a wooden glkhatun type ceiling. Adjacent to it on the western side was a vast premise which probably served as a refectory and an auditorium. It also had wooden roofing which, judging by its size, had three tents and four internal wooden abutments.Then, a two-floor bell-tower was built over the book depository. The construction was carried out in two stages. Eight wall-attached abutments and a stone roofing consisting of two pairs of intersecting arches were constructed in the book depository for the cross-plan superstructure. The top floor was elevated only to the height of two rows of stone masonry, as evidenced by the incomplete half-columns situated on the facades. In the second stage, accomplished in 1291 by the patrons Dasapet and Karapet, the top — a small church with two altar apses, crowned with a multicolumn rotund belfry — was completed. The entrance to the church was from the roof of the auditorium by a cantilever stone stair.
The decoration of the building was rather modest. The book depository’s semi-circular and dihedral grooved abutments were topped with plain slabs with the lower corners sloped in the shape of trefoils. The roofings of the corner sections, designed on the false vault principle, are composed of triangles differing in size and shape and arranged in such a way as to form eight-pointed stars. The decoration and design of the base of the rotund belfry, which reproduces in stone modified details of the “glkhatun” wooden tent, is more imposing. The bell-tower was taller than Grigor church, and therefore dominated Goshavank ensemble.
The outer appearance of the building is marked by the gradation of its bulks from the heavy bottom part to the openwork top which emphasizes the domination of the vertical in the building’s composition. The architectural peculiarities of the composition of the bell-tower influenced the design of the structures like the two-story sepulchral churches in Yeghvard and Noravank
Noravank
Noravank is a 13th century Armenian Apostolic Church monastery, located 122 km from Yerevan in a narrow gorge made by the Amaghu river, nearby the city of Yeghegnadzor, Armenia. The gorge is known for its tall, sheer, brick-red cliffs, directly across from the monastery. The monastery is best...
built in Armenia in the second quarter of the fourteenth century.
Gallery
The gallery is a covered area between the gavit and the bell tower, like a passage, and open on both ends (at least today).Khachkars
Khachkar
A khachkar or khatchkar is a carved, cross-bearing, memorial stele covered with rosettes and other botanical motifs. Khachkars are characteristic of Medieval Christian Armenian art found in Armenia.-Description:...
s created by the carver Pavgos in Goshavank stand out among the rest. The best of them is a 1291 khachkar with the maker’s name carved in the bottom left star, which is one of the most intricate examples in existence. The finely carved lacy ornaments are arranged in layers in which the basic elements of the composition — a cross on a shield-shaped rosette and eight-pointed Starr filling the corners of the middle-cross section—show clearly. The intricate openwork ornaments vary — a clear-cut geometrical pattern constitutes the background, and the accentuating elements form a complicated combination of a floral and geometrical ornament which never repeats itself.
S. Hripsime Chapel
St. Hripsime chapel (1254), situated south-west of the main group on an opposite hillside consists of a square, domed building.UNESCO
The monastery of Goshavank, together with that of Haghartsin, may become part of a natural site based on the state protected area of Dilijan National ParkDilijan National Park
Dilijan National Park, occupying 24,000 ha, is located in the North-Eastern part of the Republic of Armenia, in Tavush province . Dilijan National Park is well known for its forest landscapes, rich biodiversity, medicinal mineral water springs, natural and cultural monuments...
, an important forest in north-eastern Armenia. http://whc.unesco.org/news/11newsen.htm
Sources
- "Architectural Ensembles of Armenia", by O. Khalpakhchian, published in Moscow by Iskusstvo Publishers in 1980.
- "Rediscovering Armenia Guidebook", by Brady Kiesling and Raffi Kojian, published online and printed in 2005.
External links
- Armeniapedia.org: Goshavank Monastery
- Armenica.org: Goshavank
- FindArmenia.com: Goshavank (Nor Getik) monastery ensemble
- Tomb of Mkhitar Gosh at Goshavank - pictures of the tomb and hermitage of Abbott Mkhitar Gosh along with directions are found here. Clicking on individual pictures will bring up more information.