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Varagavank
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Varagavank

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Varagavank (, 'Monastery of Varag'; , 'Seven Churches') was an Armenian monastery on the slopes of Mount Erek (Varag), southeast of the city of Van, in eastern Turkey.

Key facts

Religious building.building_name
Varagavank
Religious building.native_name
Վարագավանք
Religious building.image
Varagavank view Bachmann 1913.png
Religious building.image_upright
1.3
Religious building.caption
The monastery c. 1913
Religious building.map_type
Turkey
Religious building.location
Yukarı Bakraçlı, Van Province, Turkey
Religious building.religious_affiliation
Armenian Apostolic Church
Religious building.functional_status
several buildings destroyed, continuous deterioration of others
Religious building.architecture_style
Armenian
Religious building.founded_by
Senekerim-Hovhannes Artsruni
Religious building.groundbreaking
early 11th century

via Wikipedia infobox

~17 min read

Encyclopedic overview

17 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Origins
  • Foundation and medieval period
  • Modern period
  • 19th century
  • Sacking and abandonment
  • Current state
  • Restoration efforts
  • Ownership
  • Architecture
  • Manuscripts
  • Cultural references
  • European visitors
  • Gallery
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • External links

Varagavank (, 'Monastery of Varag'; , 'Seven Churches') was an Armenian monastery on the slopes of Mount Erek (Varag), southeast of the city of Van, in eastern Turkey.

The monastery was founded in the early 11th century by Senekerim-Hovhannes Artsruni, the Armenian King of Vaspurakan, on a preexisting religious site. Initially serving as the necropolis of the Artsruni kings, it eventually became the seat of the archbishop of the Armenian Church in Van. The monastery has been described as one of the great monastic centers of the Armenian church by Ara Sarafian and the richest and most celebrated monastery of the Lake Van area by Robert H. Hewsen.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Varagavank” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (7)

On the map

2 mapped locations