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 The Tatev monastery is the religious center of historical Syunik. The main cathedral of Peter and Paul, was built in 895-906 A.D. by Bishop Hovhannes (John) of Syunik. All adjacent parts of the Tatev complex are fortified by walls that were added to the natural obstacles of the rocky terrain and hilltop terrain in defense of invading nomads. The vaulted Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator (848 A.D.) abuts to its northern wall.  

The church of the Virgin Mary was built in the XII Century over the vaulted ceiling of the monastery's main gate and mausoleum. The memorial/pillar (called "the Rocking Column"), is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and was erected in the year 895 A.D. The basic Seventh design consisting of a central dome supported by four isolated columns was used with the addition of paired alcoves replacing the corresponding columns supporting the dome.

The monastery also had a famous University. Its initial period of flourish dated from the X - XI centuries. The university enjoyed a later upsurge in the 70's of the XIV century, at a time when Hovhan Vorotnetsi, the famous philosopher, was headmaster. After his death (in 1386), the University was headed by his capable pupil Grigor Tatevatsi. Under Tatevatsi's guidance the University became, as contemporaries called it, "the second Athens" and a "center of wisdom". Students came to Tatev from all parts of Armenia, even from faraway Kilikia. There number  sometimes reached to one hundred.

The monastery has often been ruined as a result of invasions, mostly by the Seljuk Turks, as well as natural phenomenon's such as earthquakes. The belfry toppled after the earthquake in 1931. 

  The Tatev monastery complex  is situated near the village bearing the same name, in the high-altitude District of Goris, in the province of Syunik. The monastery was founded in the IX century in the place of a tabernacle well known in the ancient times. The strategically advantageous location on a cape, formed by a deep river gorge with precipitous rocky slopes, favored the construction of a mighty defense complex there.

The monuments of Tatev stand out for their high quality of building work. At one time Tatev was the political center of the Syunik principality. In the X century it had a population of about 1,000 and controlled numerous villages. In the XIII century it owned 680 villages. The earthquake of 1931 caused considerable destruction, but the surviving parts enable us to judge about the artistic merits of the complex.

The main monument is the temple of Pogos and Petros (Paul and Peter) built in 895-906. It reproduces the type of domed basilicas of the VII century, but has new features. In the stretched-out interior, the middle nave, crowned with a tremendous dome in the middle of the plan's cross, pre-dominates. Distinct from the domed basilica, in its western part the temple had several annexes, the corners of which served as the abutments of the dome. Its eastern abutments did not  merge with the walls of the altar apse; consequently, the cross-winged shape of its interior is not pronounced well enough . These features give us grounds to regard the temple as an intermediate link in the development of the cupola-hall into a cross-winged, domed type of building, which later on became widely spread in Armenia.

The outward appearance of the temple is severe and laconic. Its harmonious proportions add to the impression of its considerable height. The large dome, the low and closely- spaced arrangement of narrow windows and a high and round drum crowned with a pointed 32-fold roof immediately catch the eye.

The facade of the temple, just as those of the XVII century monuments, are smooth and free of superfluous detailing. On the eastern facade there are two deep triangular niches crowned, just like the windows, with thin ornamented edges. Four of them are decorated with representations of human faces, to which snake heads with tongs sticking out are turned. Armenians believed snakes to be the protectors of their homes. The oval-shaped faces, with long locks of hair framing them and with the eye sockets merely hinted at, are rather schematic. The only exception is the relief of the northern facade in which the carver tried to portray someone. According to Stepanos Orbelyan, an Armenian historian, these are the portraits of the founders of the temple -Prince Ashot, his wife Shushan, Grigor Supan ,who was the ruler of Gekharkunik, and Prince Dzagik.

Special attention was paid to the interior decoration of the temple which was the main cathedral of  the Syunik principality. In 930 the walls of the temple were decorated with frescoes, now almost totally lost, which differed from those of the Church Of The Cross on Haghtamar island. In the main apse there was a representation of Christ sitting on a throne and surrounded with three prophets and four saints. The western wall was taken up by an enormous fresco showing the Doomsday, and the northern wall- by scenes of Nativity. The figures on the frescoes are monumental and shown in various complex movements (a man rising from the coffin, a flying angel) which are emphasized by folds of the at- tires. The refined color scheme of white, light-blue, yellow and dark red gave the interior a smart and solemn look.

The authors of the frescoes of Pogos and Petros temple, who probably worked together with West European painters, were connected with a school founded in Tatev at the beginning of the X century. The students of the school studied humanitarian sciences and illustrated manuscripts. The school was of great importance. Soon enough, similar schools were opened in various monasteries of Syunik, such as Gndevank, Tsakhats-kar and Bkheno Noravank. The school played an  active role in the development of science and art, especially in the XIV-XV centuries, under the rule of Ovnan Vorotnetsi (1315-1388) and Grigor Tatevatsi (1346-1411).

The latter was not only a well-known philosopher, but a painter as well. His portrait, one of the rare portraits in Armenian book painting, can be seen in a 1449 miniature in "The Interpretation of David's Psalms". The scientist is shown among his disciples. At the end of the XIII century Tatevatsi created several miniatures for the 1297 Gospel. These miniatures are distinguished by the contrast between bright red and yellow tones. The brown and blue ones are selected with exquisite taste (the "Annunciation" miniature). The composition is severe and monumental. The faces are thoroughly detailed, and each bears a distinctive individuality. The fine floral and geometrical ornaments in some parts of the miniature add to the decorative value of the composition.

The St Gregory church adjoins the main temple on the southern side. According to a chronicle, the church was built in 1295 in the place of an earlier building dated back to 836-848. Artistically, this is a  vaulted-hall type of building, widespread in Armenia, with a semicircular apse. Its decoration is very modest. The eastern window of the apse is shaped as two crosses and a circle above them. The entrance portal is decorated with open-work, fine, geometrical, carved ornaments, which is typical XIII century.

To the west of St Gregory Church there was a vaulted gallery, with arched openings on the southern side. West to the Pogos and Petros temple is a three-tier, XVII century bell tower.  The main characteristic of it was the lightening of the sections upwards, which is emphasized not only by the shape and cross-section size of the abutments, but also by the size and proportions of the arches bridging them. The ground floor is heavier than the middle one, which was a transition to the light eight-column belfry with a pointed round roof. Correspondingly, the decoration of the bottom tier was richer than that of the top one.

The monument "Gavazan", erected in 904 in the yard, near the dwelling premises of the monastery, is a unique work of Armenian architectural and engineering art. This is an octahedral pillar, built of small stones. Eight meters tall, it is crowned with an ornamented cornice, with an open- work khachkar towering on it. As a result of seismic tremors, and even a mere touch of the human hand, the pillar, hinge-coupled to a stylobate, tilts and then returns to the initial position.

The square-shaped church of Astvatsatsin, dating back to the XI century, is of a type rare in Armenian architecture. It is a small domed hall with niches on all the facades except the western one, and its proportions are vertically oriented. The dome drum has a pointed round roof.
The chambers of the Father Superior, the vaulted-hall refectory with a kitchen and storerooms, the dwelling and service premises form an almost complete circle around these structures. They were capitally rebuilt in the XVII- XVIII centuries. There were many secret depositories in solid rock.

The craftsmen of Tatev  created works of applied art. The golden setting framework of the Tatev Gospel merits special mention. This is an example of XVII century chasing. It shows scenes from the Gospel and portraits of Tatev scientists - Ovnan Vorotnetsi and Grigor Tatevatsi ( these are now in the Echmiadzin Cathedral Museum ).

The door of the temple of Tatev, which was made in 1253, is an outstanding work of woodcarving art ( the years 1253 and 1614, the State History Museum of Armenia). The folds and jamb of the door are carved all over with an intricate geometrical ornament that is interspersed with small floral patterns. In the center of the door there is a large representation of the cross over a large shield-like circle, with two 16-petal rosettes on its sides. On top of it there is a three-line inscription.

The Tatev monastery complex fits in perfectly with the mountainous landscape surrounding it. A large temple, dominating the surrounding structures and visible from afar, is the architectural and artistic center of the ensemble. The residential and service premises, arranged in a single row on the perimeter, set off the polyhedral rock foundation and seem to be an extension of it. This gives the ensemble an original and majestic appearance.

http://www.cilicia.com/armo5_tatev.html

http://www.armenianhighland.com/churches/chronicle438.html 

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