Հավուց Թառի վանքի Սբ Աստվածածին և Սբ Հարություն եկեղեցիների տեղորոշումը/The locality of the churches of the Holy Mother of God and the Holy Resurrection in the Monastery of Havuts Tar

<jats:p>Havuts Tar is one of the most famous monasteries of medieval Armenia, located between Garni and Geghard (Ayrivank), on the hills on the right side of the Azat River, and consists of two main groups of monuments. In the ancient, now walled-in section, on the eastern side of the narthex, stood the Church of St. Katoghike, which, according to one account, was built in 1002 by Prince Gevorg. The stones of this church, severely damaged by the earthquake of 1679, were almost entirely reused in the construction of a new church in 1720-1721 by Catholicos Astvatsatur Hamadantsi, which was never completed. Excavations at the site are necessary to determine the exact location and plan of the Church of St. Katoghike. Another group of buildings is located west of the walled section, on a hill where a 13th-century church stands, the name of which was unknown and is referred to in literature as «the church on the hill.» This research reveals that this is the Church of the Holy Mother of God (Surb Astvatsatsin). The name of the main church of the monastery, St. Katoghike, is mentioned six times in colophons, and St. Mother of God four times (meaning it was the second most important building in the monastery). Abbot Simeon Jughayetsi notes that the domed Church of the Holy Mother of God is built on a high place and is as beautiful as a flower. This description matches the structure called «the church on the hill,» which is located in the highest part of the monastery, has a dome, and the layout of the walls is a beautiful combination of reddish and black stones. The name of the Church of the Holy Resurrection (Surb Harutyun) appears only once in colophons. According to Simeon Jughayetsi, it was located next to the Church of the Holy Mother of God. Two meters south of the Church of the Holy Mother of God stood a building with a gable roof, constructed of black stone, which is referred to as a church in an epigraphic inscription (only the northern wall remains). Apparently, this is the Church of the Holy Resurrection, around which the monastery cemetery is located.</jats:p>