Tsitsernavank

Tsitsernavank (“Monastery of the Swallows”), dating to the 5-7th centuries, is located in the Aghavno River Valley in the Lachin Corridor. Records from the 13th century show that the village of Tsitsernavank was one of 691 village that paid tithes to the Tatev monastery (10 silver coins annually). The monastery itself, however, is much older. In 844, when Lord Philippe donated the village of Tatev to the monastery at Tatev, and the monk Stepanos of Tsitsernavank signed the deed as witness to the benefaction.

In the 13th-century historian Stepanos Orbelian classified the monastery as one of the most important in the Siunik region. In 1655, the abbot of the Holy Cross monastery in the Goght region of Nakhichevan, Bishop Tovma Vanandetsi, described Tsitsernavank as having a “great past.” In the 17-18th centuries, the walls and gate were added to the monastic complex, as well as a refectory. The church was renovated in 1779, and the monastery remained in operation, under the jurisdiction of the Tatev monastery, until the 20th century. Tsitsernavank has been the destination of pilgrims throughout the Siunik diocese, especially for the feasts of the Holy Cross and the Assumption.

Today, the monastery remains an important architectural monument: it is the only triple-naved, basilica-style monastery still standing. The ground plan resembles that of the triple-nave basilicas of Yeghvard, Ashtarak, and Aparan, but with still more striking ancient Eastern Christian traits. The basilica was built on a previous pagan structure (sparrows were worshipped in pre- Christian Armenia), parts of which can be discerned in the foundation. Noteworthy are the geometric bas-reliefs on the pillars as well as the curious small niches whose purpose is unknown.

Many ancient inscriptions were defaced in 1989-92 by Azeri inhabitants of the region, before the monastery and valley were liberated by the Aimakan forces during the Karabagh War.