Bovurkhan Monastery

Region

Artsakh

Distance from Yerevan

339.7 km

Type

Monastery/Church

Bovurkhan Monastery (also known as Baghirkhan) is located in the Republic of Artsakh, between the villages of Nngi and Krasni, on the northern slope of the mountain of the same name, surrounded by lush forests. The monastic complex includes a single-nave, barrel-vaulted church, an abbot’s room, monastic cells, utility rooms, and surrounding walls. The buildings are constructed from local yellowish-white limestone, primarily with roughly or unhewn stones. Only the window and door cornerstones of the abbot’s room are finely cut. This room is attached to the western enclosure wall of the complex. On the southern side of the enclosure are four monks’ cells, a round tower, and another room. The cells are not interconnected—each has its own entrance, characteristic of “anapat” (hermitage-type) structures. They are uniform in size, and two have windows that widen inward, opened through the main wall. The room adjacent to the tower has a rectangular floor plan, oriented east–west, with a barrel vault, and in the center of its western wall, between two niches, there is a fireplace. The best-preserved building in the complex is the church, which is a single-nave basilica typical of the late medieval period, measuring 9.65 meters in length and 5.50 meters in width. The semi-cylindrical vault rests on a pair of wall piers. At the eastern end is the main altar with a single window. There are two additional windows on the southern facade. To the north of the church is a vestry with a rectangular floor plan. Its door opens into the main hall of the church, while its northern side is completely buried in earth from the outside.