The Bagnayr Monastery is a monastery in
Kozluca, Kars
Kozluca () is a village in the Kars District of Kars Province, Turkey. Its population is 102 (2023).
The village houses the remains of the Armenian Bagnayr Monastery, built in the 10th century CE. The name "Bagnayr" means "cave of fire altars", s ...
, 7 kilometers northwest of
Ani, built in the 11th century CE.
It was "one of the most renowned monastic complexes in medieval Armenia". The monastery was standing at the end of the 19th century, but is now almost completely in ruins.
Construction
According to Armenian sources, the 11th century historian
Stepanos Asoghik
Stepanos Asoghik (), also known as Stepanos Taronetsi (), was an Armenian historian of the centuries.
The dates of his birth and death are unknown. His name indicates that he came from the region of Taron and earned the nickname , meaning eithe ...
,
Vahram Pahlavouni
Vahram Pahlavuni (; d. 1046) was an Armenian military commander and official in Bagratuni Armenia. He was the head of the noble family of Pahlavuni, who held the hereditary title of (general-in-chief) in the Bagratuni kingdom of Armenia.
Biogr ...
(died 1046) founded the monastery in the year 989.
The son of Vahram, Smbat Magistros Pahlavuni, is thought to have founded the main church, Surp Astuacacin, "Holy Mother of God". The church's oldest inscription is dated 1042. The monastery was a major religious center in the 1040s and the Pahlavunis maintained their patronage into the 13th century. Various inscriptions mention the construction of chapels in 1145, 1200, 1223 and 1229. The monastery was probably abandoned at the end of the 13th century.
Two walls and an arch vaulted door remain, but the annular vault of the door is ruined. At the internal section of the remaining walls, 5 arches and 5 dummy columns are interconnected and epitaphs are placed in between the columns. The middle dome and north wall of the church are collapsed and only 2 columns have remained. The top of the remaining south walls is decorated with geometrical designs in carving technique.
A large
zhamatun
A ''gavit'' (; gawit’) or ''zhamatun'' (Armenian: ) is a congressional room or mausoleum added to the entrance of a church, and therefore often contiguous to its west side, in a Medieval Armenian monastery. It served as narthex (entrance to the ...
, actually larger than the church, was built in the late 12th century, its oldest inscription dating to 1201.
It is structured around four free-standing columns and eight engaged semi-columns, and its stone ceiling has nine compartments. The central compartment had a pyramidal vault with ''
muqarnas
Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...
'' stalactite moulding, which is considered similar to that of the
Church of the Holy Apostles
The Church of the Holy Apostles (, ''Agioi Apostoloi''; ), also known as the Imperial Polyandrion (imperial cemetery), was a Byzantine Eastern Orthodox church in Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The first structure dated to ...
at Ani.
An hexagonal chapel stands north of the main complex, and is probably dated to the 9th or 10th century, given its similarity to the church of St. Gregory of the Abughamrents in
Ani. This ''Küçük Kozluca Church'', remains partially preserved. This six-foil domed church has lost all of the coverings, and almost all of the exterior stone blocks have been scavenged, but the basic structure remains intact.
Numerous dedicatory inscriptions have been found on the site.
Style
The columns are short and rather fat, and are decorated with ''
muqarnas
Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...
'' ornementation. Such decorations can also be found in
Horomos Monastery
Horomos (), also known as Horomosivank, Ghoshavank, Hochavank or Khosha Vank, is an abandoned and ruined medieval Armenian monastic complex about 15 kilometers northeast of the ruins of Ani—the capital of Bagratid Armenia—)
in present-day e ...
(dated 1277) or the
Menucihr Mosque
Menucihr Mosque, also Manučehr Mosque (Kurdish: ''Mizgefta Menûçêhr'') is a mosque in the medieval city of Ani in Kars Province, Turkey. It was built between 1072 and 1086 by Manuchihr ibn Shavur of the Kurdish Shaddadid dynasty. The restor ...
(dated 1072-1086).
zhamatun
A ''gavit'' (; gawit’) or ''zhamatun'' (Armenian: ) is a congressional room or mausoleum added to the entrance of a church, and therefore often contiguous to its west side, in a Medieval Armenian monastery. It served as narthex (entrance to the ...
'' columns and arcades, and remain of the central vault decorated by ''muqarnas
Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...
''.muqarnas
Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...
'' decorations.muqarnas
Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...
''.
Sources
*
References
External links
*
{{Armenian Churches
Christian monasteries established in the 10th century
Abandoned buildings and structures
989 establishments