Horomos (), also known as Horomosivank, Ghoshavank, Hochavank or Khosha Vank, is an abandoned and ruined medieval

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

monastic complex about 15 kilometers northeast of the ruins of Ani—the capital of

Bagratid Armenia Bagratid Armenia was an independent Armenian state established by Ashot I of the Bagratuni dynasty in the early 880s following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab Umayyad and Abbasid rule. With each of t ...

—) in present-day eastern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. With its collection of churches, chapels and tombs, Horomos has been described as one of the most significant spiritual and cultural religious centers in medieval Armenia and one of the largest in all the Christian East.

History

Horomos was founded by a group of Armenian monks around 931-36, during the reign of King Abas I Bagratuni (r. ca. 929-953). The monastic complex was enlarged over time and came to include the individual churches of Sts. John, Minas, and George, a series of large halls ( gavits), a

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

, and various smaller chapels and mausolea. It served as a burial ground for noble families, particularly

Ashot III of Armenia Ashot III () was a king of Armenia, ruling the medieval kingdom of Bagratid Armenia from 952/53–77. Known as Ashot III the Merciful (Աշոտ Գ Ողորմած) and acknowledged by foreign rulers as the ''Shahanshah'' (king of kings) of ''Me ...

(r. 953–77),

Gagik I of Armenia Gagik I () was a Bagratid king of Armenia who reigned between 989 and 1020, under whom Bagratid Armenia reached its height and enjoyed a period of uninterrupted peace and prosperity. Rule It is unknown when Gagik I was born. He succeeded his br ...

(r. 989-1020), Yovhannēs-Smbat, and the

Zakarids The Zakarid dynasty, also Zakarids or Zakarians () were an Armenian noble dynasty, rulers of Zakarid Armenia (1201–1350) under the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Georgia, and from 1256 under the control of the Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia. Their dyn ...

in the 13th century, and is a sort of Armenian " Saint-Denis".

Church of Saint John (1038)

The Church of Saint John ("Surb Yovhannēs"), now in a highly ruined state, was built by King Yovhannēs-Smbat, son of

, in 1038, according to an inscription.

Zhamatun of Saint John church (1038)

The zhamatun of Saint John church is the first known instance of a ''

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 ...

'' or '' gavit'' in Armenia, an architectural element built in front of the church for gathering purposes. It is dated to 1038, and was built by King Yovhannēs-Smbat, son of

. It was already called ''žamatun'' in the dedicatory inscription: The tomb of King Yovhannēs-Smbat is located here. File:Horomos Monastery 42.jpg, The ''

'' with its colonnaded belvedere covering the hole of the oculus. File:Horomos Saint John narthex.jpg, Inside the ''zhamatun'' File:Horomos Monastery 26.jpg, Pillars of the ''

'', and octagonal vault, featuring ''"The

Tetramorph A tetramorph is a symbolic arrangement of four differing elements, or the combination of four disparate elements in one unit. The term is derived from the Greek ''tetra'', meaning four, and ''morph'', shape. The word comes from the Greek for "fou ...

ic Throne and the

Last Judgement The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

"''. File:Hoshavank plan (Church and gavit).jpg, Cross section of the church and its '' gavit'' or ''

Ruzukan chapel (1215)

The Ruzukan chapel is a two-storey burial structure with a large chamber and three small chapels on top, built against the southern wall of the Saint John church. According to an inscription, the chapel was commissioned in 1215 by Kutlu Khatun, for her mother Ruzukan, under the supervision of Bishop Sargis. The main chamber opens to the west, through an arch. The main chamber is decorated by a three-arris vault supported by four columns, and an eastern wall adorned with four '' khatchkar'' crosses. The vault has an octagon design at its center, assorted with sophisticatd geometric patterns. The side walls are encircled by a linear decorative relief known as a "Seljuk chain", although it was already used in Armenia before the arrival of the

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of th ...

. Many similar decorative elements can be found in the

Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital () was built in 1228–1229 by the local dynasty of the Mengujekids in the small Central Anatolia Region, Anatolian town of Divriği, now in Sivas Province, Turkey. The complex is in the upper town, below the cit ...

, built in 1228. To the south of the Ruzukan Chapel is the Chapel of Khatun of Ani, now completely ruined.

Mausoleum of Prince Vache Vachutian (1229)

South of Saint John church and its ''zhamatun'', a block of three particular buildings remains. One of them is the mausoleum of Prince Vache Vachutian, Governor of Ani in 1213-1232 and founder of the Vachutian dynasty of vassals of the

, built in 1229. The mausoleum is a square space of about 8x8 meters, lined with blind arcades supporting a huge "stone tent" structure of the type of the stalactite vaults. The "stone tent" would have reached a height of about 6 meters, giving a total of 9 meters for the mausoleum. Photographs from the 19th century show the wall and the beginning of the stone tent structure. This type of "stalactite tent" is also seen in other monuments, such as the '' gavit'' 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. A dedicatory inscription appears on the tympanum:

Mausoleum of Aruits (1277)

A mausoleum called the " Mausoleum of Aruits", after its donator the merchant Ariuts (Aṙwic) Hogeworeanc', is located south of the church and its gavit, among a group of three buildings. The roof is supported by a pair of parallel arches, converging to a 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 ...

'' decoration and an open oculus. It is broadly similar in style to the gavit of the

at Ani, but is dated to 1277 according to a dedicatory inscription. The inscription around the window was written by a rich merchant named Aṙwic Hogeworeanc', who is also known from an inscription is the main zhamatun, where he explains he repaired the water pipeline built in 1198, after they were left in a state of disrepair by the Mongols. His inscription in this mausoleum reads:

Manuscripts

The monastery was an active center of manuscript creation. The famous Haghpat Gospel was created in Horomos in 1211, and then put under the custody of the

Haghpat Monastery Haghpat Monastery, also known as Haghpatavank (), is a medieval Armenian monastery complex in Haghpat, Armenia, built between the 10th and 13th century. Location The location of Haghpat Monastery was chosen so that it overlooks the Debed River ...

. In one of the pages, entitled "Entry into Jerusalem", Jesus, riding a donkey, is actually shown entering the gates of Horomos Monastery itself. The monastery continued to function after the fall of Ani, but appears to have been temporary abandoned in the early 17th century and then reoccupied and repaired in 1685. It continued to operate as a monastery until it was finally abandoned due to the

Armenian Genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. Some time after 1965, the monastery was partly destroyed, most likely as part of the Turkish government's policy of

cultural genocide Cultural genocide or culturicide is a concept first described by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944, in the same book that coined the term ''genocide''. The destruction of culture was a central component in Lemkin's formulation of genocide ...

. A tomb believed to belong to King Ashot III (953-977) which had survived at least up to 1920 is now nowhere to be found. Some buildings have entirely vanished, and most of the surviving walls have been stripped of their facing masonry. The dome of the Church of the St. John collapsed in the 1970s. As of 2003, the site lies next to the Armenian border and gaining permission to visit the monastery is all but impossible.

Gallery

Historic photos

File:Horomos Monastery St. John’s zhamatun and church. Photo T‘oros T‘oramanean, 1910s.jpg, Horomos Monastery: St. John's zhamatun and church. Photo T‘oros T‘oramanean, 1910s. File:Horomos Strzygowski.png, East side of the church of St. John at Horomos; early 20th century photograph File:Der Architekt, 1919 - 08.jpg, alt= File:Der Architekt, 1919 - 03.jpg, alt= File:Der Architekt, 1919 - 01.jpg, alt= File:Horomos lynch fig96.jpg File:Horomos lynch fig97.jpg, ''

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 ...

'' of Aruits File:The Monastery of Horomos.jpg File:Horomos lynch fig95.jpg, ''Zhamatun'' of Saint John church (1038) File:N°40 Zhamatun of Aruits, Horomos monastery (single view).jpg, ''

'' of Aruits File:Mausoleum of Prince Vache Vacutian (Governor of Ani 1213-1232), built in 1229.jpg, Mausoleum of Prince Vache Vacutian (Governor of Ani 1213-1232), built in 1229

Actual state today

File:Horomos Monastery 45.jpg File:Horomos Monastery 42.jpg,

topped by a colonnaded canopy. File:Horomos Monastery 01.jpg File:The Monastery of Horomos (Ghoshavank) (4221860776).jpg File:The Monastery of Horomos (Ghoshavank) (4221864406).jpg, Monastery File:The Monastery of Horomos (Ghoshavank) (4218808492).jpg, Inside the

of Saint John church (1038). File:Horomos Monastery 36.jpg, Inside the

. File:Horomos Monastery 40.jpg, Inside the

. Horomos Monastery 04.jpg, Church of Saint John (1038) File:Horomos Monastery 16.jpg, Zhamatun of Aruits File:The Monastery of Horomos (Ghoshavank) (4218751594).jpg, Vaul of the

of Saint John church (1038). Horomos Monastery 06.jpg, Inside the

of Saint John church (1038). Horomos Monastery 07.jpg, Inside the

of Saint John church (1038). File:Horomos Monastery 08.jpg, Ruzukan Chapel The Monastery of Horomos (Ghoshavank) (4218753352).jpg, Dedicatory inscription for the gavit, by King Yovhannēs-Smbat in 1038.