Hayravank Monastery

Hayravank Monastery stands on a high cliff by the shore of Lake Sevan. It is also known as Father Hovhannu Monastery and Martaghavnyats Monastery.

The complex dates from the 9th–12th centuries and consists of the Church of St. Stephen, built in the 9th century, and a 12th-century narthex built entirely of finely cut stone.

The 9th-century church is regarded as a unique example of Armenian architecture: a domed building with a cross-shaped plan both inside and outside. Its walls are of rough-hewn basalt, while the arches and the octagonal drum with its dome are of finely cut tuff, and the earliest of its five inscriptions, from 1211, records its first renovation by the priests Hovhasap and Nerses.

According to legend, in 1381 Tamerlane reached Hayravank after conquering Armenia, and the abbot, Father Hovhan, used a relic of the True Cross to turn people into doves and so prevent a massacre. From then on the monastery was called Father Hovhannu Monastery, also Martaghavnyats Monastery (Monastery of Human-Doves), and later Hayravank.

The monastery was active until the 19th century; in the 1980s it was renovated and the church dome was rebuilt. Its small walled courtyard preserves tombstones and khachkars (cross-stones) from the 16th century.