The architecture of Haghpat Monastery is one of the most dazzling products of Medieval Armenian Architecture. Aside from it being regarded as a masterpiece, it was also the center of learning in Armenia during the middle ages. The monastery was erected by Saint Nshan during the 10th century when King Abas I was still reigning. It was founded almost at the same time with the Sanahin, another nearby monastery. Haghpat Monastery is a medieval monastery which was built by the Byzantines as a monastic complex in Haghpat, Armenia. The village Haghpat, where the monastery takes its name from, lies on plateau in region of Gouark. This plateau is dissected by deep cracks which were formed by the Debed and Pampak Rivers. Unlike other plateaus in Armenia, it has plenty of water and an abundance of vegetation. The book of Documents of Armenian Architecture says “In this natural setting, it is to be framed the simple, substantial volumetric massivity of the buildings of Haghpat built (as a typical in Armenian architecture) with local stones, such as stuff or eruptive rocks, these contributing to give an absolute homogeneity to the landscape. This process of communion with nature, springing maybe from a remote ancestral feeling of respect and almost veneration for one’s land intended as a mother, in whose “womb” one seeks for protection causes sometimes the buildings to compenetrate the landscape” . Besides, Haghpat Monastery catches the sight of the Pampak River in Northern region of Armenia that has boundaries with Georgia. The Byzantines did not establish it on a peak, but a verdant highland was chosen to build, because halfway of hillside is easier to afford protection and hiding from prying people than pinnacle. This situation not only shows both a responsibility and humbleness of monastery, but also presents the necessity of a protection. Unlike Haghpat Monastery, other monasteries of Northern Armenia were built in towns and villages. In spite of this condition, after Haghpat Monastery was constructed, settlements emerged around it. People liked to be close to monasteries in medieval times, because monasteries were used as the centre of information and worship, besides; they provided markets and employment possibilities. History records that Haghpat Monastery was a post-renaissance strategy of the religious leaders to unify the Armenians against a very hostile environment that they were facing at that time by unifying and latching on to the religious identity. The author of this book believes that it is important to note that Armenia was one of the first countries to embrace Christianity. At the time of the death of Abgar, after 38 years of rule, St. Jude Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew, apostles of Jesus traveled around Armenia to preach the gospel. As a result many people were converted to Christianity and secret Christian meetings were held. The apostles suffered martyrdom; however, they were still revered, leading to the proclamation of the entire land as a Christian land by Tiridates the Great in 313. According to Strzygowski’s description about the events of 4th and 7th century in Armenia, both the conversion to Christianity and the invention of the alphabet created an important history. According to the author of History of the byzantine state, after the Armenian alphabet was invented, the Bible was translated into Armenian. This made the conversion of the Armenian to Christianity easier, because people had chance to read the Bible in their own language and understood what it says. According to the book of Construction of race and Nation, the transition to Christianity, however, did not come easy. Against the scenario of theological disputes, clashes in political ideologies also came about. Soon, the Armenian Church began to elect its own archbishop, rejecting the dogma of the dual nature of God – human and divine). As such, the Armenian Church came into conflict with the Byzantium, which led to Armenia wanting to separate itself from both Byzantium and Persia, two rival empires, which often clashed on its territory. The break with Byzantium was completed in 609. After the Tashir-Dzoraget Kingdom of the Kyurikids in 979 was established, Sanahin and Haghpat had more importance than ever before. The rulers, including their vassals approved of the erection of various religious and civil structures. During these times, humanitarian studies and medicine, as well as painting and other forms of art were being held at the monasteries. Monasteries are not isolated structures. Among the edifices being housed in the monasteries include churches, chapels, annexes, and sepulchers, bell-towers, learning academy, book depositories, refectories and galleries. Armenian architecture entails that buildings are grouped around their main temples, which leads to a grand picture of its architecture. Armenians achieve balance and symmetry by patterning the shape and layout of the additional buildings to the main temples. Haghpat Monastery is an important example of Armenian religious architecture during the tenth century. It had a unique style which blended ecclesiastical architecture of the Byzantine Empire and the traditional architectural style of the Caucasian region. The main structure of this style, huge dome, is seen at the center of the Haghpat Monastery. “Its central dome rests on the four imposing pillars of the lateral walls. The outside walls are dotted with triangular recesses. A fresco in the apse depicts “Christ Pantocrator.” The Christ Pantocrator was used by the early Christians to refer to Christ rather than the creator. This was the aftermath of the Christological shift that happened in the fourth century. Early Christians reflected these shift in terms of icon, which resulted to the widely used religious images of the “Christ Pantocrator” in churches and monasteries. This icon was one of the most used religious images of Orthodox Christianity. It was common factor in Byzantine church art and decoration and is normally seen on the dome of the monastery or church, if not in the church’s ceiling. The use of the “Christ Pantocrator” in the Haghpat Monastery is to remind the populace about the Christian ideology that Christ is a gentle, yet, severe judge of humanity at the end of days. The interior of Haghpat Monastery are adorned with mosaics and paintings which were presenting saints and scenes from the Bible. In addition to this, two-tier annexes of the church give it unusual form. Chronologically, the first usage of human figures can be seen in a model of church. This situation gives Haghpat Monastery and Armenian art a great importance. St.Nshan church is a significant building that was built in cupola-hall type. It is distinguished by its compactness and harmoniously balanced shapes which is crowned with a tremendous dome. The inside is formed by four arches. They were kept from falling by pillars on three sides. The other side was supported by columns. The shape of cupola was bought into harmonious union with high arches. This feature makes it pointed shape. The other point about St. Nshan church is that it was embellished with frescoes twice which are almost totally lost by now. As mentioned before, The fresco has a significant role in Byzantine art and architecture. After Triumph of Ortodoxy in 843, the icon took for granted a central role. The fresco in the apse depicted Christ Pantocrator. Bas-relief is another important specialty of Haghpat Monastery. The offspring of the church’s founder Princes Smbat and Kurike (Gurghen) with Queen Khosravanuche are in bas-relief. The book of document of Armenian architecture says “In the central part of the east side, placed in a rectangular niche, there is a bas- relief showing the two brothers Smbat and Gurghen in regal clothes, standing and looking each other, supporting a little model of the church.” Haghpat Monastery has retained its original form, except for one or two small alterations in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The influence of the Haghpat Monastery in the spiritual lives of the Armenians further spread when a local noble family called the Kyurikians used the monastery as a sort of a spiritual center. As a consequence of this growth, two more buildings were erected to it. These were the St. Gregory’s church and the chapel of the Virgin Mary, along with walls and two strong gates. The Haghpat monastery consists of small churches and chapels. One of them is St. Gregory chapel which is located on the north side of St. Nshan building that was completed in 1023. This small chapel has a symmetric plan covered by a dome. But in the thirteenth century, it was rebuilt as a barrel vault building. The church of St. Gregory has a rectangular from outside. Double columns and a pointed arch were used at the entrance of the chapel as decorative elements. Besides the semicircular altar apse, there are four chambers on the four interior corners. The other chapel is The Holy Virgin chapel which was built in the 13th century. This was constructed on the south side of St. Nshan building. Shape of the small chapel is cruciform from inside and it is rectangular from the outside. It has a dome and round tall drum. The other one is Hamazasp atrium building. It was located on the north side of St. Nshan church. In the 13th century, the small chapel was attached to it on the east side. Its shape is square, but not perfect. Ceiling of the chapel was formed into nine panels. Besides, it has four columns which the low dome rests on. The low dome was built with a special form to have skylight. The picture is showing the view of the roofs of Hamazasp building. In Armenian architecture, gavit has a significant place. For meetings, teachings and funerals, the people used the monastery’s gavit. Documents of Armenian Architecture writes “the floor of the gavit of Haghpat is wholly covered with grave stones belonging the members of the Kyurikians family. Like the main church, also this building has remained intact through centuries. In the gavit of Haghpat the system of crossed arches is double: on the first one insist a less one the aim which is to lift and cover the central port where the lantern is placed.” The Haghpat monastery has a dining hall which is located on the north side of complex. The large dining hall was incorparated into the defensive wall, other chapels and mausoleums. exterior of the dining hall has a rectangular shape with two halls on the inside. These two halls are both divided from each other by two columns and intersect one another at right angles. The another part of the monastery complex is the bell-tower (Sankagadoun) which was built in 1245 at the highest point of the complex. While it was being contructed, triangular connections were used to make it stronger in order to stand against the earthquakes. The bell-tower has three storeis. First two storey is cross-shape, the others are rectangular. The passages which provides transition to third storey consist of eight altars. They were decorated with original combinations of trefoils. The wall on trompes is growned. The bell-tower was set down upon heel. Twin windows with columns were used for the decoration of the building. Besides, facade gables and belfry were used. The artistic composition of bell-tower is different than the other chapels and chuches. Its style affected other buildings that were built after the bell-tower of Haghpat. The Monastery includes a book depository which was built in the 11th century. The book depository was square shaped in plan and it has wooden roof that is resting on internal pillars. In thirteenth century, stone roof was constructed on pillars. This stone roof changed the internal vision of the book depository, because their sizes and shapes were different. That is why the size of the library were seen reduced. The plan of the book depostiory was drawn with thinking details. As an example, it has a niche to put manuscripts in it. The other speciality of the library is acoustics. The slighest sound can be heart at the farthest point of the building. To sum up, The evolution of Haghpat monastery coincided with the historical, artistic and religious developments in Armenia. the Haghpat monastery, a monastic complex, consists of Gregory chapel, Holy Virgin chapel, Hamazasp atrium building, and bell-tower. These buildings have the main characteristics of religious architecture of Armenian which is mixed of Byzantine architecture and Caucasian architecture. The churches and political history of Armenia also shaped Haghpat monastery into becoming one of the protected art forms in the world. To date, the Cultural Ministry of Armenia is now responsible for the preservation of the work of art. It is now adopting a long-term plan to protect the spiritual and artistic heritage of Armenia called the Haghpat monastery.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DOCUMENTS OF ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURE/ HAKHPAT-DONUMANTI DI ARCHITECTURA ARMENA, 1968,(page 3-8)

HALAJIAN, JOHN: “ARMENIAN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE:FROM DORMANCY TO REVIVAL”,2006,(pages 34-35)

MARANCI, CHRISTINA: “MEDIEVAL ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURE CONSTRUCTION OF RACE AND NATION”, 2001, (page 161-164)

OSTROGERSKI, GEORGIJE, “HISTORY OF THE BYZANTINE STATE”, 1986, (page 51)

PICTURES http://www.mayrhayasdan.com  A view of Haghpat Monastery

The bas relief in the central part of the east side of the church, showing the two brothers Smbat  and Gurghen in regal clothes.

The bell-tower of Haghpat Monastery

The book depository of Haghpat  Monastery