Tegher Monastry
Confession: Armenian Apostolic Church
Foundation date: XI c
Condition: Good
From Yerevan: 40km / 50min
The Monastery of Tegher (XI c.) was built with dark grey basalt on the southern slopes of Aragats, in the valley of the River Tegher. The complex consists of a domed church and a narthex, It was built under the auspices of Mama-khatoun, Prince Vacheh Vachoutyan’s wife by the architect Aghbayrik Vardapet. Mamakhatoun stopped at this elegant magic world from where all roads led to Amberd, her husband’s eagle-nest. ‘Stop, I am going to build my cathedral here to protect my husband, the prince of princes,’ she said. And so the cathedral-fortress came to life. Then the great princess looked at Ararat, and her soul calmed down. Then came wild nomadic tribes, but the fabulous Monastery of Tegher, austere and strong, is still looking at the Ararat Valley.
The church (1213-1232) is a domed gallery with two-storey sacristies in its four corners with austere forms and an absence of decorative adornment. The narthex is larger than the church. By its architectural forms it repeats the four-column types of the XIII c. narthexes.
Closer to Tegher, at an elevation of 1750 m above sea level you will find Academician Paris Herouni’s world. The scientific centre houses the first radio-optic telescope of great precision, which enables penetration into remote galaxies and their nuclei. A sun station was built in 1992-1994; a sun calendar showing the time of the day and the month was created. Herouni thought that in Qarahounch there had been an observatory,; which is 7500 years old, older than the British Stonehenge.
