Unique 12th-century Khachkar of the Mayravank Monastery

This unique and gorgeous khachkar (cross-stone) was discovered in 2011 by a team from the CYMA (Canadian Youth Mission to Armenia). This khachkar is located amongst the ruins of the Mayravank Monastery, which lies near the Solak village in the Kotayk Province.

The monastery’s 11th-12th-century Surb Astatsatsin Church is built from solid basalt and belongs to the crossed-dome architectural style. The church has two sacristies on the sides of the altars. The ruins of an ancient brethren quarters can be seen on the southern and western outskirts of the church.

Mayravank has been first mentioned the 7th century, and its name has been associated with Armenian philosopher Hovhan Mayravanetsi. To humiliate Mayravanetsi, the Armenian Catholicos Yezr Parazhnaketsi renamed the monastery Mayragom (“gom” means “stable” in Armenian) and titled Hovhan himself Mayragometsi.

In accordance to the idea of the Byzantine king, Parazhnaketsi was forced to reunite the Armenian church with the other Christian churches in 633 AD after they had been separated during the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD. This idea hasn’t been in favor of the Armenian clergy, but only Mayravanetsi openly condemned the Catholicos.

Майраванк, Солак