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| Armenian Monastery of Varagavank |
| The Varagavank monastery, known by the locals as Yedi Kilise (Seven Churches) is about 10km south east of Van. It was the biggest and richest monastery of the Armenian Vaspurakan kingdom and a seat of the archbishop of Van. In 1915 the monastery complex was destroyed by the Turkish army. There is a village on the site, houses built adjacent to the monastery ruins. Nothing remains of the seven churches. Following my GPS, passing different villages and asking locals I reached the ruins of the monastery. |
Reaching the monastery The GPS shows 27 more meters to go, the monastery remains are right in front - two arcs are visible and the new house with white walls that was built much later.
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The main doorway Main entrance with inscriptions in Armenian above the door.
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Remains of a Church Next to the main monastery building was the only church I could find in the village. Currently used as a barn.
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Side wall of the monastery Practical use is to dry clothes.
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Interior of the church - view from the roof Washed out frescoes are clearly visible on the columns
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From the monastery roof Village houses as seen from the roof. On the right - remains of the dome.
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The famous Van cat One eye is always blue and the other is yellow with the cat being white. They can be rarely seen and I was lucky to spot one walking around the village.
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The main monastery The house adjacent to it was built later.
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Armenian crosses in the wall The crosses are along the wall with a Turkish flag covering them.
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Armenian cross From the inside over the entrance.
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Reliefs on a wall inside the monastery
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© 2004 Suren Markosian |
 suren@loois.org |
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