Categories: Antiquities

Church of St. Gevorg in Mughni

Mughni Monastery is located in the village of the same name north of the town of Ashtarak in Aragatsotn Province. The complex includes the main church of St. Gevorg (1661–1669) with a gallery, a refectory, the abbot’s apartments, and office premises. The buildings of the monastery are surrounded by a beautiful & well-kept garden and a wall.

The Church of St. Gevorg was built by architect Sahak Khizanetsi and his successor Murat in the crossed-dome architectural style.

Possessing considerable size, the church is one of the most interesting buildings of its time. The round drum of the dome is crowned with a tented roof. Under the dome windows, there is a relief image of evangelists.

The interior of the church features preserved fragments of paintings of the 17th century. The open three-arch gallery was built simultaneously with the church and differs from similar buildings. Its average span is made somewhat higher and wider than the side, which greatly enhances its architectural expressiveness. The gallery is crowned by a 12-column belfry rotunda.

Surb Gevorg Church (Mughni, Armenia) XIV century

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

From Lake Van to Yerevan: The Bronze Helmet of Urartu, the First Armenia

The crested bronze helmet on the left of this comparison was not made by a…

3 days ago

A Tower Crowned by a Lion-Rider: Reading a Bronze Age Cult Vessel Through the Lens of the Armenian Highlands

A small, weathered piece of fired clay — barely 31 centimeters tall — sits today…

6 days ago

A Hand Reaching Through Three Millennia: The Bronze Pendant from Yeghvard

Pendant (Amulet) in the Shape of a Human Hand | 7th–6th centuries BC | Yeghvard…

2 weeks ago

Duduk (Tsiranapogh): The Ancient Voice of Armenia from the Bronze Age to UNESCO Heritage

Introduction The duduk (Armenian: դուդուկ)—traditionally known as tsiranapogh (ծիրանափող, “apricot-wood pipe”)—is one of the most…

3 weeks ago

The Earliest Known Mention of Yerevan in Armenian Epigraphy: The 874 Inscription of Sevanavank

Perched on the rocky peninsula of Lake Sevan, the medieval monastery of Sevanavank preserves one…

4 weeks ago

The Land of Kajants: Language, Kings, and Gods

Reconsidering the Language and Sacred Heritage of Urartu in Armenian Historical Thought For more than…

1 month ago