Between Armenia and Georgia, a dispute arose about the division of the border, on one of the segments which is a medieval Khorakert monastery. Rich in the past, the monastery was built in a dense forest, surrounded by ancient trees, on the Western slope of mount Lalvar.
Inside the fence of the main temple of Khorakert, are the ruins of two small vaulted chapels and a refectory. Near the fence, just South of the chapels, in the midst of trees, there is a well connected to the leading into the gorge secret exit.
The main temple – the most significant in height, volume, and artistic expression building Khorakert (end of XII – early XIII century). The decoration of the main volume of the temple is quite modest. A striking difference is the dome, the artistic and constructive form of which is unique not only in Armenian, but also in world architecture. The drum of the dome has a rare for Armenia ten-sided form, exceptionally bold interpretation of it as a kind of colonnade, is not found in other churches. The dome of the Church of Khorakert is an intermediate between the usual domes and a multicolumn rotunda, used in the bell towers. The structural basis of the inner side of the dome consists of three pairs of intersecting arches, forming the shape of a six-pointed star.
The vestibule, attached to the temple in 1257 by the son of a certain Karnetsi Hovhannes Stepanos, is a rare example of a square hall, covered with a system of intersecting arches, thrown across the entire room, which resembles the dome of the temple. This technique allowed the architect to coordinate the image of the new building with the existing temple.
Khorakert Monastery
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