Mshkavank Monastery

Mshkavank, or Mshakavank, is located near the village Koghb of the Tavush Province of Armenia, on a woody plateau. The Monastery`s Surb Astvatsatsin (Holly Virgin) Church and its vestibule (narthex) preserved till our days. There is no information regarding exact date of the construction. The church first time in historical chronicles mentioned in 1219.

Surb Astvatsatsin is a square in plan single-nave hall with semi-cylindrical roof. There are two-story side chapels to the both sides of the altar. The front part of the stage is coated with small arches, in recession of which one can see four-, five- and six-pointed made of felsite stone stars. There is a stylized cross with a bull`s head on its top on the eastern facade, above the window of the main altar.

The only entry connecting the church with the vestibule is on the west. The vestibule is a centric building with pairs of intersecting arches. The entrance is framed with motley stones. The lintel is framed with crosses and eight-winged stars made of felsite stone.

Mshkavank Monastery is rich of khachkars (cross-stones) and lapidary inscriptions. There is a medieval cemetery around the monastery with a chapel on its western site.

Mshkavank was reconstructed in 1955-1960.