PLACES OF WORSHIP
CHURCH OF ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR
Early Middle Ages
State index: 1.11.9.2
The church is located about 40 m west of St. Gevorg Church in Noragavit.
It was probably
destroyed in 1679 from a great earthquake. The lower two rows with a height of about
1.5 meters have been preserved.
The church is a
one-nave hall structure with a rectangular plan, a semicircular altar in the
east. It rises on a three-tiered stylobate. Two pairs of masonry pillars
preserved inside the longitudinal walls suggest that there was a vault. The
floor is tiled. The only entrance is from the south. The dimensions of the hall
are: 7 x 6.3 meters. The walls are about 70 cm thick.
The church is constructed
of black and pink polished tuff.
A thick wall
with corner semi-circular towers was built in front of the western facade of
the church for defensive reasons probably XI-XIII centuries. The space between
the original and newly constructed walls of the church was reinforced with
filling.
In
the interior and the surroundings of the church, fragments of the pavement, as
well as the parts of cross stones from the IX-XVI centuries, are preserved, one
of which is inscribed in XVI-XVII centuries.
“Scientific Research Center of Historical and Cultural of Heritage” SNCO
Yerevan Municipality
