Khoranashat monastery | church, Armenian Apostolic church

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Khoranashat (Armenian: Խորանաշատ վանք) - the 13th century Armenian monastery near the village of Chinari, Tavush region of Armenia. Khoranashat monastery was founded in the XIII century by Vanakan Vardapet. Main building, St. Astvatsatsin (Mother of God), built in 1211-1222. On both sides of the apse of the monastery there are two-storey limits, to the second floor of which there are stairs from the altar hill. Such a composition of the domed hall is typical for the churches of Armenian monasteries of the mature Middle Ages. The Gospel was once rewritten in the monastery, apparently created in ancient Artsakh-Utik. This Gospel contains a unique version of The Last Supper, which has no analogues. Now this Gospel is kept in the German city of Halle. It is known that between 1215-1225. Armenian historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi moved to the Khoranashat desert, lived in this monastery. And in 1225 he left it after the Tatar-Mongols invaded here. According to him, Kirakos Gandzaketsi, a relative of Vanakan Vardapet named Pogos, after the death of his teacher, became the abbot of the Khoranashat monastery. The monastery is located 100 meters from the border. From the village of Chinari there is a road to the monastery, which was improved in 2019, following the occupation of two new positions on the border. The roads closest to the temple, 1500 meters, must be passed half-way so as not to be in the enemy's line of sight. According to local residents, in 2005 even the Catholicos and his retinue could not get there - the azeri military fired at them. In 2008, azeri snipers shot dead a young visitor to the church, and two more remained disabled. Usually, the doors of the temple are locked with a key, but sometimes the doors are opened and residents of the villages of Chinari, Aygedzor and Artsvaberd attend the liturgy and commemorate their dead.