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Armenia31 Akhtala monastery

Akhtala is a 10th-century fortified Georgian Orthodox Church monastery located in the town of Akhtala. The fortress played a major role in protecting the north-western regions of Armenia (Gugark) and is among the most well preserved of all in modern Armenia.

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Armenia31 Akhtala monastery

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  1. 31 ARMENIA Akhtala monastery

  2. Akhtala is a 10th-century fortified Georgian Orthodox Church monastery located in the town of Akhtala in the marz of Lori, 185 kilometers (115 mi) north of Yerevan. The fortress played a major role in protecting the north-western regions of Armenia (Gugark) and is among the most well preserved of all in modern Armenia. The main church at the compound is famous for its highly artistic frescoes, which cover the inside walls, the partitions, and the bearings of the building. The original Armenian name of the settlement where the monastery is built is Pghindzahank, which means copper mine

  3. Wedding rings statue. Pater Vigen said, if couples go through they will leave all the bad things (the snake and scorpion) behind and are facing a good future

  4. According to some local lore, the church was built in the 7th century by Byzantine emperor of Armenian extraction, Heraclius

  5. Another legend assumes that the church was built in the 5th century by Georgian King Vakhtang I Gorgasali

  6. There is no reasonable evidence to support either story.  Modern researchers date the murals within the church to 1205–1216

  7. From the late 18th century to the present the monastery has served ethnic Greeks who settled in Akhtala to work in the nearby gold and silver mines

  8. Akhtala remains one of Armenia's best intact examples of its great fresco period

  9. Several monasteries in northern Armenia were converted to Chalcedonian or Greek (Byzantine) Orthodoxy, a prominent example being Akhtala

  10. About 800 Greek families were moved from Gümüşhane in the Ottoman Empire to Akhtala in 1763 by the Georgian King Herekleh II

  11. The Greeks called the monastery "Meramani" and Greek miners have left inscriptions on the monastery walls. In the 19th century Akhtala was taken over by the Armenian princely family of Melikovs

  12. Compared to all other Armenian monasteries it distinguishes from its precious and unique frescos which are very well preserved and in original condition

  13. Pghndzavank was the religious center for Chalcedonian Armenians as well as an Armenian-Georgian center for learning

  14. The majority of the murals bare scriptures in Greek

  15. The murals are one of the best representations of Byzantine art outside the traditional borders of Byzantium

  16. The murals were painted under the patronage of atabek Ivane Zakarian between 1205 and 1216

  17. The coloring of the murals is characteristic of typical Byzantine art while the thematic solutions are more Armenian

  18. Some of the murals were renovated in 1979

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