DEGHDZUT MONASTERY

Location. The monument stands in the depth of a thick forest in the territory of the village site of Deghdzut, about 6.4 km south-west of Ajarkut Village, Tavush Region, Republic of Armenia, in a straight line (Dzoropor (Kayan) District of Gugark Province, Armenia Maior), at an altitude of 1,199 metres above sea level (N 40°59´50.28°°; E 045°01°48.42°°).

A Historical Introduction. The monastery of Deghdzut was one of the most famous spiritual and cultural centres of medieval Armenia. In the 13th century, a great number of manuscripts were created there, but unfortunately, only two of them have come down to us. They date back to 1280, the days of Amirspasalar, Prince Sadun and the Prior of the monastery, Archimandrite Arakel. One of them is a Collection written by Pakutator’s son Gevorg, who came to Deghdzut from Artsakh’s renowned monastery of Gandzasar.

In 1948, while cleaning the site of the monastery, the workers of the Department of the Preservation of Monuments found an ornate broken cross-stone engraved with an inscription commemorating its construction. They collected its fragments, which lay in the narthex, and arranged them on the floor, but there are some missing pieces, which make it impossible to thoroughly read the inscription. It only retains the year of the construction of the monument, 1274, together with the names of Prince Sadun of Mahkanaberd, the Prior, Archimandrite Arakel, Father Superior of Haghpat Monastery Hovhannes as well as masons Poghos and Kaghak.

Judging from an inscription (§â¾ ¥1258¤, ߥÇÝ»ó³õ¤¦ / “Built in 707 (1258)”/) inwardly carved with large-size letters on the northern wall of the main church of the monastery, its construction probably started in 1258 and continued until 1274, lasting about 16 years.

On the whole, Deghdzut Monastery retains 12  inscriptions of the 13th century, including only 4 dated ones (1258, 1274, 1276 and 1292). Special mention should be made of the undated epitaph of its founder, Archimandrite Arakel, who came to Deghdzut from Tarsus District, Cilicia.

An Architectural Description. The perfection of the forms of the monastery and the splendour of its ornamentation make it one of the most remarkable complexes of medieval Armenian architecture. It consists of a main church, a narthex, a second church, a chapel and a cemetery.

As of 2012, only the second church was preserved standing, whereas the main one and narthex were semi-ruined. As for the chapel, it was totally reduced to ruins.

The main church represents a cruciform domed hall which is rectangular outwardly. On both sides of its eastern semi-circular sanctuary, there are double-floor vestries, the entrances of which open into the prayer hall on the first storey, and into the sanctuary on the second. The cylindrical tambour lies beneath the pointed spire, only some meagre remnants of which are preserved. The underdome square (the passage from it to the drum is realised by means of pendentives) is formed by 4 dome-bearing arches, which rest on  the 2 angular intramural pylons of the sanctuary in the east and on 2 others in the west. 

All the four facades of the church are outwardly enriched with a delicate arcature. Its walls have thoroughly finely-finished revetment, each of them being decorated with two triangular niches crowned with magnificent reliefs. The western entrance of the church is particularly distinguished for the splendour of its ornamentation. On the whole, the monument is remarkable not only for the abundance of reliefs but also the rich manifestations of unrestrained artistic conceptions.

The narthex adjoins the main church in the west. It has a rare composition as it has no pillars and the weight of its four-sided roof is borne by two intersecting arches, which rest on 8 pilasters. In the centre of the roof, there is a false domed yerdik, which presumably used to end in a small belfry/rotunda (narthexes with similar roofs can be seen (or used to exist) in the monasteries of Arakelots, St. Sargis (Ushi), Nor Varag, Khorakert and Bartholomew the Apostle).

The narthex has two entrances opening from its western and northern facades.

The second church of the monastery stands north of the main one. It is a uni-nave vaulted structure with an entrance opening from its western facade. In the north, it has two sacristies which are directed from the east westward. It is mostly built of undressed stone and mortar, except the upper parts of its pediments and cornices (perhaps, the covering slabs as well), which are finely-finished.

The chapel used to stand on a hill at the north-western extremity of the village site. Its remnants are surrounded with a cemetery which retains only simple undressed stone slabs and cross-stone pedestals.

To summarise, the monastery of Deghdzut, with its two churches and narthex of a rare composition, is one of the most noteworthy monuments of medieval Armenian architecture. Apart from the features mentioned, it is even more remarkable for its splendid reliefs, which are the fruits of free artistic thinking.