Sevan Monastery

Sevan Monastery stands high above the aquamarine waters of Lake Sevan, on what was once an island (now a peninsula) on the lake’s northwest shore. This monastery includes the church of St. Astvatsatsin and the smaller church of St. Arakelots (“Holy Apostles”), later renamed for St. Karapet (St. John the Baptist/Forerunner). According to an inscription on the south wall of St. Arakelots Church, the monastery was founded in 874, under the sponsorship of Princess Mariam, the wife of Prince Vasak of Kapur and the daughter of the Bagratouni King Ashot I. She constructed the church under the spiritual direction of the Catholicos Mashtots Yeghivardetsi, who was a great ascetic and complier of the book of ritual prayers and canons that bears his name - Mashtots.

For several centuries, Sevanavank remained an important spiritual center and was a pilgrimage site for thousands of visitors from all parts of Armenia. Today, the monastery consists of only the two churches and a ruined gavit dating from the 9th or 10th century. In 1451 Daniel vardapet, who came from the Tatev Monastery, established the scholarly institute (“Vardapetaran”) at Sevan. Among those who studied at the monastery was Mkhitar Sebastatsi (1692), the founder of the Mechitarist Order of Venice, under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church.

The island and monastery of Sevan are associated with an important episode in Armenia’s struggle for independence from Arab domination. One of the most famous kings of Armenia Ashot II (Yerkat) Bagratuni is reputed to have taken refuge on Sevan Island with his regiment in 925; there, he won a decisive victory, ensuring the re-establishment of Armenian independence.

In 1990, Catholicos Vazgen I founded the seminary at Sevanavank, named in his honor, which today trains seminarians for service in the Armenian Church in Armenia and abroad.