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The Monastery comprises several churches and chapels built during the reign of Queen Khosrovanush. The Church of Amenaprkich (The Savior) is the principal church of the monastery, constructed between 966 and 972 AD, located next to the Church of  St Astvatsatsin (Mother of God).

A Theological Academy and it's vaulted gallery used to be situated in-between the two churches, where the eminent Armenian scholar, philosopher and writer, Grigor Magistros Pahlavuni instructed during the XI Century. The great Armenian poet and singer Sayat Nova also studied at the Theological Academy according to inscriptions on the Library wall.

Outside the gate of the monastery is the house-museum of the Mikoyan brothers. Artyom (1905-1970) was the famous aeronautical engineer, designer of the "MIG" fighter series. Uniquely among Bolsheviks of his generation (1895-1978), Anastas survived every purge and change of leadership to become Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, perhaps the most successful Armenian ever to settle in Soviet Moscow.

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The exact date of the foundation of Sanahin and Haghpat is unknown. Documentary evidence and monuments of material culture suggest that these structures date back to the middle of the X century. The formation of Tashir-Dzoraget - kingdom of the Kyurikids in 979 AD - and the great attention paid to Sanahin and Haghpat by various rulers of Armenia and their vassals favored the construction of many religious and civil structures there. In these monasteries, especially in Sanahin, humanitarian sciences and medicine were studied, scientific treatises written and paintings, most miniatures, created.

Built in the monasteries over three centuries were more than 20 various churches and chapels, four annexes, sepulchers, bell-towers, the building of the Academy, book depositories, refectories, galleries, bridges and other monumental structures, to say nothing of numerous dwelling and service premises.

The church of St Harutyun (in Sanahin,), dating back to the early XIII century, is interesting from the point of view of its composition. Its interior is distinguished by two identical altar apses.

The annex of  the church of Amenaprkich belongs to the four-pillar type. It was built in 1181 by the architect Jhamhair at the expense of Father Superior Hovannes and the prince’s family. This is an early example of the widespread buildings of this type based on the composition of the Armenian peasant home with four internal pillars. The artistically expressive columns which harmoniously divide the interior into separate parts predominate in the strictly centric interior. The bases and capitals of the columns are decorated with carvings and relief representations of the heads of the animals, which are of symbolic significance of stylized fruit and jars. The rectangular portal of the northern entrance is emphasized by a geometrical ornament.

The vestry of  the St Astvatsatsin church, erected by Prince Vache Vachutian in 1211, is of a different type. It is a three-nave hall covered with vaults and steep two-slope roofs. The arrangement of the naves emphasizes the lateral axis of the complex. The columns of the interior are similar, differing only in the shape of the bases, shafts, capitals and in their ornamentation. The grandeur and monumentality of heavy arcades, of the low arches and of the high vaults which seem to draw the walls apart give the interior an integral and expressive character. The western facade with its six high archways is extremely picturesque.

The sepulcher of the Zakharid princes in Sanahin is complicated. Its eastern part, dated to the end of the X century and the beginning of the XI century, is a basement crypt with a vault on the wall arches and with chapels rising above it. The middle one  of the latter is rectangular in the plan, and the side ones are round and double-storied. The latter are of a type stylistically close to St. Grigor chapel from which they differ by their miniature size and by the gracefulness of their architecture. Built in 1189, the western part is simpler — it is a premise rectangular in the plan with an original large ornamented portal.

Sanahin Academy is an original work of civil architecture built in two stages at the end of the X century and at the beginning of the XI century. This structure, rectangular in the plan, is roofed over numerous closely spaced arches resting on pillars attached to the church walls. The spaces between pillars are decorated with deep arched niches, presumable intended for the audience. The harmonious coordination between the heavy abutments and the arches gives the small premise a monumental appearance. Numerous and closely spaced divisions and the darkened niches make the interior look longer.

The interior of Sanahin’s book depository, built in 1063, looks different. Its distinguishing feature is a huge octahedral tent roof resting on diagonally-arranged arches resting on intricate abutments in the middle of the walls. The facets of the tent-roof are made as overlapping bands, which makes it look like the tent-roofs of Armenian peasant homes. The wall niches and the wall-attached abutments vary in their shapes, sizes and ornamentation. Thanks to the curvilinear shape of their cross-sections, the abutments fit in snugly with the walls. The abutments are decorated with openwork and graceful carvings. Their decoration is complemented by that of the niches, the overall impression being that of a harmonious artistic whole. The composition of the interior makes Sanahin’s book depository a unique work of medieval Armenian architecture. Its influence shows in various architectural forms of Armenia’s civil buildings.

The Sanahin Bridge, which is laid across the river Debet  (1192) stands out among all the bridges found within the confines of the monasteries. This engineering structure of high artistic merits, integrity and perfect harmony is in a class by itself among the numerous bridges of the Tran Caucasus. A single-span bridge, it has an original composition prompted by the local terrain: its right side is horizontal, and its left side terraces down to the bank. The parapets of the bridge are decorated with tiny spiked helmets at the edges and with the roughly hewn figures of lying wild cats in the central part.

Sanahin and Haghpat complexes are especially rich in khachkars (more than 80 of them have survived), which were intended not only as memorials. Some of them were installed to mark various events: in Sanahin, one was put up on the occasion of building a bridge in 1192, another one, of building an inn in 1205, and others are Tepagir (1011), Tsiranavor (1222), etc. 

Text and floorplan from "Architectural Ensembles of Armenia"
O. Khalpakhchian, published in Moscow by Iskusstvo Publishers in 1980.

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