Saint Marianeh church ( hy, Սուրբ Մարիանե եկեղեցի; pronounced ''Surp Mariané''), also known as Saint Marineh, is a medieval Armenian church located in the town of

Ashtarak Ashtarak (Armenian language, Armenian: ), is a town and urban municipal community in the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia, located on the left bank of Kasagh River along the gorge, northwest of the capital Yerevan. It is the administrative centre of ...

in the

Aragatsotn Province Aragatsotn ( hy, Արագածոտն, ) is a province ('' marz'') of Armenia. It is located in the western part of the country. The capital and largest city of the province is the town of Ashtarak. The Statistical Committee of Armenia reported ...

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 ...

. Nearby are the churches of Karmravor (located southeast of the Saint Marianeh), Spitakavor, Tsiranavor, and Surp Sarkis. There is also a unique bridge of 1664 in the gorge nearby. Saint Marianeh church is clearly visible from across the gorge at Saint Sargis church. The church sits adjacent to Smbat Shahaziz road, between Perch Proshyan and Parpetsi roads though it is easiest reached via a vacant lot southeast of the complex.

Architecture

Saint Marianeh church was built in 1271 (according to some sources 1281), and has proportions peculiar to the given period of its construction. It has a rectangular plan from the exterior and a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

central-plan from the interior, and two-tiered side-chapels join the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

from the western and eastern sides. Of particular interest is the church's

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

that is circular from the interior and decahedral from the exterior. A tall

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

rests on top. Façades of the church, drum, and dome are simply adorned with cruciform decorations around the rectangular windows. The main portal into the structure is at the southern wall, with a belfry over this wing built in 1838. Another portal leads into the church from the western wall. Adjacent to the western wing of the church, is an unfinished 20th century

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

with the remainders of a fortified wall built of unprocessed blocks of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Armeniapedia.org: Saint Marianeh Church
Churches completed in 1271 13th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings Armenian Apostolic churches in Ashtarak Tourist attractions in Aragatsotn Province Buildings and structures in Aragatsotn Province 13th-century churches in Armenia {{Armenia-OO-church-stub