Khach-Maghara Church :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Khach-Maghara Church 11 — 12 cc․

Georgia / Javakhk / Akhalkalak / Metz Samsar

Architectural Description

One of them is a cut-in-rock church known by the name of Khach Maghara which has a narthex adjoining it in the west. An opening in the central part of the latter serves as an entrance to it. The sanctuary has three windows overlooking northward. There are two long corridors opening from the narthex, but we failed to find out where they reached (they are more like secret passages). The main entrance to the church, which is between 4 and 5 metres lower than the floor of the narthex, opens into the narthex through a parcel of land dug like a pipe. The church and narthex together are 9 metres long. One of the remarkable features of this sanctuary is its elevated bema—an architectural peculiarity which shifted from Armenian Apostolic churches to Armenian Chalcedonian ones in the course of time. The church of Khach Maghara, which does not boast splendid decoration, is absolutely bare of inscriptions. Its inner length amounts to 8.90 metres together with the narthex, which is 4.25 metres wide. The monument dates back to the period between the 11th and 12th centuries.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, pp. 382-384.

Type Photo
View Exterior
Direction From the north
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Type Photo
View Interior
Direction From the east
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Type Measurement
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Sketch

Type Photo
View Interior
Direction From the west
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Type Photo
View Interior
Direction From the east
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․