The medieval Hogevank Monastery (Armenian: Հոգեվանք; transliterated as Hogevank or Hokevank) is situated near the village of

Sarnaghbyur Sarnaghbyur () is a village in the Ani Municipality of the Shirak Province of Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is ...

(Սառնաղբյուր), in the

Shirak Province Shirak (, ) is a provinces of Armenia, province () of Armenia. It is located in the north-west of the country, bordering the provinces of Lori Province, Lori to the east and Aragatsotn Province, Aragatsotn to the south and southeast, and the cou ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. It is also known as Karmir vank (Կարմիր վանք) or Dzoragyughi vank (Ձորագյուղի վանք), Saint Karapet Church (Սբ. Կարապետ), completed in 1205, is the main building in the monastic complex. But, according to an inscription in the upper corner of the northern entrance, the church was initially named Saint Stepanos (Սբ. Ստեփանոս). The shrine has two entrances: the western and the northern. On the eastern side, there is the semicircular main altar, with arched, exposed

vestries A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spent nearly one-fi ...

placed on each side at a right angle. The dome of the church is in the form of a cylindrical drum. As a result of an earthquake in 1939 the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

was destroyed; it was restored in 1980. Originally, the church was built of red polished

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

. However, brown and black tuffs were also used during the restoration. There are citations on the outer walls. Inside the church there exist four-sided carved commemorative markers, made during the 4th and 5th centuries, as well as numerous broken pieces of

Khachkar A ''khachkar'' (also spelled as ''khatchkar'') or Armenian cross-stone (, , խաչ ''xačʿ'' "cross" + քար ''kʿar'' "stone") is a carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosette (design), rosettes ...

(Armenian cross-stones) from the 13th century. Because of age, the inscriptions on them are illegible. To the north of Saint Karapet Church, the collapsed walls of a 5th century single nave chapel and a 7th century sanctuary with four apses may be seen.

Gallery

File:St. Karapet Church (1205).png, St. Karapet Church built in 1205 File:St. Karapet Church Dome.png, Dome of St. Karapet Church, reconstructed in 1980 File:St. Karapet Church Dome Interior.jpg, Interior of the dome File:St. Karapet Church.png, A pillar in St. Karapet Church File:St. Karapet Church inscriptions.png, Inscriptions on an exterior wall File:Hokevank Monastery (Sanctuary).png, Remains of a 5th Century sanctuary in Hogevank Monastery

References

{{reflist Armenian Apostolic monasteries in Armenia Buildings and structures in Shirak Province