Mastara Church of St. Hovhannes

St. Hovhannes Church at Mastara; St. John Church at Mastara, the temple in Mastara

Mastara Church of St. Hovhannes St. Hovhannes Church at Mastara; St. John Church at Mastara, the temple in Mastara Attributed to Gregory Vanakan Cruciform churches Religious buildings Stone crosses Temples Church of St. John in Mastara, late 6th century, in the Taleen district. A sub-dome square, with apses extending on its four sides, culminates in an imposing dome that governs the whole of the church’s interior. Four large squinches in combination with overhanging arches provide a solid foundation for the huge octahedral drum of the dome. Its architectural conception heralds another stage in the development of simple cruciform compositions. Its main merit is the interior, and of course the mighty monolithic outward volume. Mastara derives its name from Gregory the Illuminator, who brought back from Caesaria the relics of John the Baptist, one fragment of which he enshrined beneath the church site: Mas (a piece) Tara (I buried). The church was closed in 1935 and used as the collective farm storehouse until it was reopened in 1993. 891 CE 1982 Images Digital Tiffs and jp2s A-0029 Parsegian, V.L.. Armenian Architecture (Zug, Switzerland, IDC, 1980) Armenian Mastara village, T'alin Region, Republic of Armenia 6th or 7th centuries CE Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,, Troy, NY; Armenian Educational Council

Mastara Church of St. Hovhannes

St. Hovhannes Church at Mastara; St. John Church at Mastara, the temple in Mastara

Attributed to Gregory Vanakan

Cruciform churches

Religious buildings

Stone crosses

Temples

Church of St. John in Mastara, late 6th century, in the Taleen district. A sub-dome square, with apses extending on its four sides, culminates in an imposing dome that governs the whole of the church’s interior. Four large squinches in combination with overhanging arches provide a solid foundation for the huge octahedral drum of the dome. Its architectural conception heralds another stage in the development of simple cruciform compositions. Its main merit is the interior, and of course the mighty monolithic outward volume. Mastara derives its name from Gregory the Illuminator, who brought back from Caesaria the relics of John the Baptist, one fragment of which he enshrined beneath the church site: Mas (a piece) Tara (I buried). The church was closed in 1935 and used as the collective farm storehouse until it was reopened in 1993.

891 CE

1982

Images

Digital

Tiffs and jp2s

A-0029

Parsegian, V.L.. Armenian Architecture (Zug, Switzerland, IDC, 1980)

Armenian

Mastara village, T'alin Region, Republic of Armenia

6th or 7th centuries CE

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,, Troy, NY; Armenian Educational Council