Kayan Berd (also known as ''Kayanberd'' or ''Dsevank'', or ) is a fortress and a former

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

of the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

in the province of Lori in Northern

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Lage

The Berd lies between the monasteries

Haghpat Haghpat ( hy, Հաղպատ) is a village in the Lori Province of Armenia, located near the city of Alaverdi and the state border with Georgia. It is notable for Haghpat Monastery, a religious complex founded in the 10th century and included in t ...

and

Sanahin Sanahin () is a village in the northern province of Lori in Armenia, now considered part of the city of Alaverdi (a cable car connects it with Alaverdi). The village is notable for its Sanahin Monastery complex, founded in the 10th century and ...

. The Kayan Berd was strategically built at the edge of the ridge between two canyons above the

Debed The Debed ( hy, Դեբեդ) or Debeda ( ka, დებედა) is a river in Armenia and Georgia. It also serves as a natural boundary between Armenia and Georgia at the village Sadakhlo, Georgia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The ...

River.

Specifications

The exact year of construction of the castle is unknown. It was possible that King Ashot II. Yerkat built it at some point in the 10th century. The castle is largely destroyed. The wall ring is enclosed by a triangular area and was provided by semi-circular defense towers. Inside the area, the Church Surb Astvatzatzin remained (, "Holy God Mother"),

Western Armenian Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...

''Surp Asdwadsadsin'', other transcriptions ''Surp Astvatsatsin, Surb Astuacacin'') of Dsevank. It was built of black tuff. Its blue, red, white dome was damaged in an earthquake in 1827. The dome was built in the right corner of the fortress, with which it shares an outer wall. One can also see in the vicinity numerous ruins of houses, cisterns and water pipes made of clay. In the associated village, there is a burial ground from the Early Iron Age.

Story

In the middle of the 11th century the Haghpat of the religious center of Lori was built and it competed with the brother monastery Sanahin. According to the medieval historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi, the Archbishop of Haghpat, Hovhannes, built the fortress in 1233 as a monastery with massive defensive walls on Sanahin soil. He came from the Georgian-Armenian Zakarid dynasty and was a son of the sister of the Armenian princes Zakare and Ivane Zakarian. The plant was initially named ''Monastery Surb Nshan''. ''Surp Nschan'' (

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 across the ...

''Holy Sign'') is a saint name. The terms Dsevank and Kayan Berd or Kayanberd are of more recent origin. The situation on Sanahin soil led to a conflict between the two monasteries. After the bishop's death, the Tatars demolished the walls of the monastery in 1241. Subsequently, it was restored and destroyed by troops of

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

at the end of the 14th century; it was not rebuilt afterwards.

Gallery

File:Dsevanq 15.JPG, Dsevank File:Dsevanq 02.JPG, Dome of Dsevank File:Kayan Castle 09.JPG, The fortress from the village of Akner

References

{{coord, 41.095388, 44.699137, region:AM-LO_type:landmark, display=title Kayanberd Lori Province 13th-century architecture

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Specifications

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Gallery

References