Noravank

Noravank is a monastery that has been absorbed into the landscape rather than imposed on it. The 13th and 14th-century church buildings sit at the base of a steep red volcanic cliff in the Amaghu Valley, a tributary of the Arpa River, and the cliff is the first thing you notice when you arrive: a wall of red and orange rock that rises almost vertically above the pale stone monastic buildings. The colour contrast between the rock and the stone is stark and theatrical, and it changes with the light — the reds deepen in the afternoon and glow orange in the early morning, making the site different at every hour. The valley is narrow here, flanked by the cliffs on one side and a steep hillside on the other, and the monastery occupies the only flat ground, a narrow strip between the cliff and the river.

The main church is Surb Astvatsatsin, built in 1339 by Prince Burtel Orbelian and his son, the bishop, and it is entered through one of the most elaborate stone portals in Armenian architecture. The portal is the work of Momik, an architect and monk who is one of the few medieval Armenian artists whose name has survived with a biography. Momik's portal is covered in carved stone: the arch is framed by a series of decorative bands, and above the arch a carved khachkar — a cross-stone — is set into the wall. The two-storey church behind the portal is simple in its main volume but extraordinary inside where the upper storey, accessible by an external staircase, is a small intimate space whose ceiling is close overhead and whose walls are covered in carved stone niches and inscriptions. Momik's personal khachkar stands in the monastery courtyard, carved in 1300, a date inscribed in Armenian script on the stone itself.

The monastery was the seat of the bishopric of Vayots Dzor and served the Orbelian family, one of the most powerful noble families of medieval Armenian, who held the nearby villages and the mountain passes as their fief. The Orbelians were patrons of the church and the monastery reflects their wealth and their ambition: the buildings are larger and more elaborately decorated than a remote valley monastery would normally warrant. The setting is far from any town — the nearest village is a short drive away — and the silence of the valley, broken only by the river and the occasional bird, is part of the experience of visiting. In the afternoon the cliff casts its shadow over the monastery and the temperature drops noticeably.

The monastery complex includes several small chapels and a refectory, most of them set into or against the cliff face itself, making use of the rock as a natural wall. The largest structural addition is the bell tower, which is a later construction. The visit is short — the monastery is small — but the combination of the red cliff, the quality of the medieval stonework, and the silence of the valley make it one of the most memorable monastic sites in Armenia. The road to Noravank passes through the village of Areni and its vineyards; Areni wine is made from an Armenian grape variety and the village has several small wineries that can be visited as part of a combined route.

The elaborately carved stone portal by the architect-monk Momik is one of the finest examples of medieval Armenian stone carving surviving in situ.

The setting — red volcanic cliffs above the monastery — is visually dramatic and unlike any other monastic landscape in Armenia.

Noravank is one of the few medieval Armenian sites where the individual artist's hand is identifiable through inscriptions and documented work.