Katarovank ( hy, Կատարովանք; az, Qatərəvəng) is an Armenian Apostolic

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 whi ...

in the

Khojavend District Khojavend District ( az, Xocavənd rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the Karabakh Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Lachin, Shusha, Khojaly, Agdam, Agh ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

, in the region of

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik, and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is m ...

. It is located close to the village of Hin Tagher (Köhnə Tağlar). The monastery was founded in the 4th century, but the present structure was completed in the 17th century.

History and architecture

The 5th-century Armenian historian

Pavstos Buzand Faustus of Byzantium (also Faustus the Byzantine, hy, Փաւստոս Բուզանդ, translit=P'awstos Buzand) was an Armenian historian of the 5th century. Faustus' ''History of the Armenians'' (also known as '' Buzandaran Patmut'iwnk) exists ...

, known for his six-volume History of Armenia, describes Katarovank as a large monastery built on top of the Dizapayt Mountain ( az, Ziyarət dağı). Buzand mentions the monastery in the context of his story about the invasion of Armenia by the

Massagetae The Massagetae or Massageteans (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Sakā tigraxaudā (Old Persian: , "wearer of pointed caps") or Orthocorybantians (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ),: As for the term “Orthocorybantii”, this is a translati ...

and

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

in 335 AD.Mkrtchian, Shahen. Historical and Architectural Monuments of Nagorno Karabakh. Yerevan: Hayastan Publishing House, 1988, p. 100 In that year, a large army led by King Sanesan invaded Armenia's eastern provinces as a reaction to the mission of St. Grigoris—the grandson of St. Gregory the Illuminator and bishop of eastern lands of Armenia. St. Grigoris led an Armenian mission to convert the Massagetae tribesmen into Christianity. The mission gained true success when the missionaries managed to turn three of Sanesan's own sons into Christianity. Suspicious of St. Grigoris, Sanesan ordered to execute the saint on the plain of Vatnean by tying him to a wild horse. His children fled the royal palace together with St. Grigoris' missionaries who carried with them St. Grigoris' body. The children decided to hide in the mountaintop Katarovank Monastery, which at the time hosted as many as 3870 hermits and pilgrims. But Sanesan in his pursuit of the children reached the monastery and killed all the inhabitants of Katarovank, including his own children. The monastery was destroyed by the Hun soldiers and the corpses of the killed were burned. The present-day chapel is a 17th-century structure. It is a single nave basilica constructed from the blocks of local coarse-cut sandstone. One side of the chapel is below the ground while the other is built on bare rock. There are Armenian khachkars near the chapel. The monastery offers a unique panoramic view to the River Aras.

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war

Khtsaberd (Çaylaqqala), Hin Tagher (Köhnə Tağlar) and Katarovank had been an Artsakh holdout in the

Hadrut Province Hadrut Province ( hy, Հադրութի շրջան) was a province of the Republic of Artsakh. The provincial capital was Hadrut city. The last governor was Valery Gevorkian. The province was captured by the armed forces of the Republic of Azerbai ...

during the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involving Azerbai ...

. Clashes erupted around the Armenian holdout pocket despite the

ceasefire agreement A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

, with Azerbaijani forces taking control of Hin Tagher and advancing towards the area of Khtsaberd on 12 December 2020. Russian peacekeepers were reported to have arrived on 13 December 2020. Subsequently, it was reported that the villages were and this monastery came under Azerbaijani control as Russian peacekeepers removed the area from their map of responsibility on 14 December 2020.

Gallery

Կատարովանք.jpg, Katarovank Kataravanq 8.JPG, Katarovank Kataravanq 12.JPG, Scenery around Katarovank

Books

* The Epic Histories: Attributed to P'awstos Buzand. Columbia University Press, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, 1989 * Movses Kalankatuatsi. History of the Land of Aluank, translated from Old Armenian by Sh. V. Smbatian. Yerevan: Matenadaran (Institute of Ancient Manuscripts), 1984, Book I, chapter 14, in Russian. * (in Italian) Documenti di architettura armena, Alexandr L. Jakobson – 1986 – 73 p.

References

{{Armenian Churches Armenian culture Armenian buildings in Azerbaijan Armenian Apostolic Church Armenian Apostolic churches Armenian Apostolic monasteries Armenian Apostolic monasteries in Azerbaijan Oriental Orthodox congregations established in the 4th century Christian monasteries established in the 4th century Khojavend District