Tatev Monastery

a monastery-fortress complex in Armenia in the historical district of Siunik (Zangezur), in what is now Goris Raion, Armenian SSR. In the ninth century A.D. the Tatev Monastery became the residence of the metropolitan of Siunik. It owned an enormous amount of land and numerous workshops and collected taxes from hundreds of villages. An outstanding example of medieval architecture, it contains the Church of St. Gregory (a vaulted structure, 836–848) and the Church of Pogos and Petros (tenth century), a cruciform domed church with chapels in the four corners and mural paintings (10th century). Also in the monastery is the domed over-the-gate Church of Astvatsatsin (11th century). The monastery also contains a rocking pillar (904), which is a religious monument. In its day the monastery was a major cultural center with a scriptorium, a library, and one of the region’s best-known universities.