Saghmosavank

Saghmosavank is located in the eastern part of Sagmosvan village, Aragatsotn region. The church is situated on the right bank of Kasakh River, at the edge of the canyon․ The monastery of Saghmosavank was one of the richest and most prominent spiritual and cultural centers of the Middle Ages.

According to the legend, Gregory, the Illuminator, was the founder of the church. They say that Saint Gregory saw this place from the slopes of Mount Aragats and decided to build a church there. Later he taught psalms to clergymen in Saghmosavanq. “Saghmos” is an Armenian word for psalm - a spiritual song or lyric poetry.

However, Saghmosavank is mentioned in historical sources only at the end of the 12th century. The monastery complex includes the church of Saint Sion and St Astvatsatsin, a courtyard, and a writing house.

The main church of the Saghmosavank monastery was built in 1215 by Prince Vache Vachutyan, who ruled Aragatsotn Region. The church belongs to cross-domed churches with two-story vestries in all the corners. The entrance is from the western part where the courtyard was built by Vache Vachutyan in 1215-1235. The church considered a unique sample of Armenian architecture. 

St. Astvatsatsin Church is located in the southern part of St.Sion, near the eastern part of the writing house. It is a vaulted building and has a rectangular base with an arched altar. It was built in 1235 by Vache Vachutyan’s son prince Kurd Vachutyan. Once the complex was surrounded by semi-circular gates. 

In 1255, the Prince Kurd Vachutyan and his wife built the writing house church and devoted it to their dead daughter. In its construction, the writing house differs from other writing centers. There is an altar in the eastern part of the house and a two-storey sacristy. Two entrances open to the courtyard and the Church of the Holy Mother of God. Moreover, the church Holy Mother of God can only be accessed only from the writing house. 

In the 13th century, the writing house contained 120 manuscripts, including some interpretations of the Gospels and the Bible, theological literature, works of Armenian historians, as well as translated literature. A list of the manuscripts was discovered in one of the gorge caves near Saghmosavank in May 1912.