Marmashen

a monastery complex in the village of Marmashen, northwest of Leninakan. One of Armenia’s medieval architectural ensembles, it was built between the tenth and 13th centuries. The complex rises majestically from one of the terraces above the Akhurian river valley. It consists of two adjoining domed churches: the great, or main, church (988-1029, with an umbrella-shaped roof) and the middle church (11th century, partially ruined). The main church is marked by the vertical thrust of architectural forms, which is rhythmically intensified by the sculptural decoration (arches, annulated columns). To the south of these churches is a small, domed, cruciform church with four chapels (llth century), west of which are the ruins of a four-pillar 13th-century gavit (a structure added to Armenian churches providing extra room for worshippers), a circular temple with four apses (llth century), and a burial vault.