Sanahin
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Alaverdi (including Sanahin) location |
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Amenaprkich (Holy Redeemer) church |
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St. Gregory chapel |
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The monastery's library |
Sanahin ("Սանահին" in
Armenian) is a village in the Northern
Lorri province of
Armenia, now considered part of the city of
Alaverdi (the
cable car that connects it with the Alaverdi centre is supposed to have the steepest climb in the whole former
USSR). The village is notable for its monastery complex, founded in the 10
th century and is listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site along with monasteries in
Haghpat.
The name Sanahin literally translates from Armenian as "this one is older than that one", presumably representing a claim to having an older monastery than the neighbouring
Haghpat. The two villages and their monasteries are similar in many ways, and lie in plain view of each other on a
dissected plateau formation, separated by a deep "crack" formed by a small river flowing into the
Debed river.
As with Haghpat, Sanahin is frequented by an increasing number of tourists, due to its recent inclusion on the itineraries of numerous Armenian tour agencies, the beauty of its monastery complex matching that of Haghpat's. The complex belongs to the
Armenian Apostolic Church with numerous
khachkars (stones with elaborate engravings representing a cross) and
bishop gravesites scattered throughout it.
Sanahin was also the birthplace of the two well-known Mikoyan brothers.
Artem Mikoyan was a well known
airplane constructor, and one of the "fathers" of
MiG.
Anastas Mikoyan was the
politician with the longest career of any member of the Soviet
politburo. He was involved in negotiating the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was a member of the Soviet delegation trying to improve relations with
Tito's
Yugoslavia, and played a major role in the
Cuban Missile Crisis negotiations. A fraction of visitors to the monastery also stop at the small nearby museum in the former school, run by Mikoyans' relatives.
*
class="wk">baz0011 Sanahin at Armenica.org
*
Armeniapedia.org article on Sanahin*
UNESCO entry on Haghpat and Sanahin - See "Advisory Body Evaluation" for detailed history.
