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Kobayr monastery

Coordinates: 41°00′18″N 44°38′06″E / 41.005061°N 44.635086°E / 41.005061; 44.635086
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Kobayr monastery
Քոբայր
Religion
AffiliationArmenian Apostolic Church
Location
Locationnear Tumanyan, Lori Province,
Armenia Armenia
Kobayr monastery is located in Armenia
Kobayr monastery
Shown within Armenia
Geographic coordinates41°00′18″N 44°38′06″E / 41.005061°N 44.635086°E / 41.005061; 44.635086
Architecture
StyleArmenian
Completed1171

Kobayr (Armenian: Քոբայր) is a 12th-century Armenian monastery located in the village Kobayr, directly across the road from the town of Tumanyan, within Lori marz, Armenia.

History

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The monastery was built on a brink of a deep gorge, in 1171, by the Kyurikid princes, a junior branch of the Bagratuni royal house of Armenia.

Kobayr was one of the famous spiritual, cultural and literary centers of Northern Armenia in the developed Middle Ages.

In the 1270s, the monastery was acquired by the Zakarians, a noble Armenian dynasty at the service of Georgian royals. The Zakarians converted Kobayr into a Chalcedonian monastery, as a result of which the monastery stayed under the tutelage of the Georgian Orthodox Church for some time. This explains several Georgian inscriptions found on the walls of the monastery, which exist alongside the monastery's original Armenian inscriptions.[1][2][3] The monastery houses the tomb of Prince Shanshe Zakarian, son of Zakare II Zakarian. A bell tower in the middle of the complex was built in 1279 to house the tombs of Zakarian and his wife Vaneni. The monastery is currently undergoing renovation funded by the government of Armenia with the assistance of the government of Italy. The ruins of the main church in the monastery contain frescoes of Christ and the twelve apostles as well as the Church Fathers and other Christian figures.

Probable depictions of Shahnshah's wife Vaneni (left), her husband Shahnshah Zakarian (middle), and a kindred in military uniform (right), as donators at the Kobayr Monastery Chapel-Aisle.[4]

Mural paintings

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Mural paintings, which previously likely covered all the inside walls of the monastery, now only remain in the Big Church and the Chapel/Aisle adjoining it from the north. The style is mainly Byzantine of the 11th century CE. Inscriptions indicate that the building was consecrated in 1282, by the monk George who was the son of Shahnshah, of the Zakarian family.[4]

The family members of the Zakarian family, including Zakare, Ivane, Shahnshah or Khutlubuga, are thought to have been depicted in the murals of the Haghpat Monastery,[5] and inside the arches at the Kobayr Monastery (1282).[6][7] Khutlubuga in particular is directly attested through an inscription and a relatively well preserved mural, reinforcing the suggestion that other close members of the dynasty were also depicted with him.[8]

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  • Church frescoes before reconstruction.
    Church frescoes before reconstruction.
  • View of monastery from direction of Tumanayan
    View of monastery from direction of Tumanayan
  • View of the Chapel from the belltower
    View of the Chapel from the belltower
  • View of remainder of complex from belltower
    View of remainder of complex from belltower
  • Belltower, tomb of Shahnshah Zakarian
    Belltower, tomb of Shahnshah Zakarian
  • View of Tumanayan from belltower
    View of Tumanayan from belltower
  • View of belltower - Tumanyan in background
    View of belltower - Tumanyan in background
  • Georgian inscriptions
    Georgian inscriptions
  • Armenian inscriptions
    Armenian inscriptions

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Helen C.; Anderson, Benjamin; Aslanian, Sebouh David; Balakian, Peter; Eastmond, Antony; Jones, Lynn A.; Mathews, Thomas F.; Piñon, Erin; Qiu, Earnestine M.; Richardson, Kristina L. (10 January 2022). Art and Religion in Medieval Armenia. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-1-58839-737-9.
  2. ^ Академия наук СССР. Институт истории материальной культуры. Сектор Средней Азии / Эпиграфика Востока , Выпуски 13-17 / Изд-во Наука., 1960 p.135
  3. ^ Л.Меликсет-Бек / Кобер и его армянские и грузинские надписи / Известия Тбилисского государственного университета, 1926 г.
  4. ^ a b
  5. ^ Hakobyan, Zaruhi A. (2021). "The Frescoes of the Haghpat Monastery in the Historical-Confessional Context of the 13th Century". Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art. 11: 264. doi:10.18688/aa2111-02-21. Thus, it could be assumed that in Haghpat there was painted a group of patrons, besides Khutlubuga and Sadun presumably including Zakare (from the right to left), Ivane, and Shahnshah.
  6. ^ Hakobyan, Zaruhi A. (2021). "The Frescoes of the Haghpat Monastery in the Historical-Confessional Context of the 13th Century". Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art. 11: 264. doi:10.18688/aa2111-02-21. In this regard, we could compare it with the other patron's composition in the small church of Kobayr (1282) with the members of Zakare family, where some of them are included inside the arches [6, pp. 12–13, fig. 34–35].
  7. ^ a b Дрампян, Ирина Рубеновна (1979). Фрески Кобайра (in Armenian). Советакан грох. Shahnshah , of the Zakarian family. Though we don't have documental informations concerning the paintings of the Aisle , the portraits of the donators whom we consider to be Shahnshah and his wife allow us to look upon the painting as one close to the date of the Big Church ; the likeness in the artistic style confirms this suggestion
  8. ^ Hakobyan, Zaruhi A. (2021). "The Frescoes of the Haghpat Monastery in the Historical-Confessional Context of the 13th Century". Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art. 11: 265. doi:10.18688/aa2111-02-21.
  9. ^ Evans, Helen C.; Anderson, Benjamin; Aslanian, Sebouh David; Balakian, Peter; Eastmond, Antony; Jones, Lynn A.; Mathews, Thomas F.; Piñon, Erin; Qiu, Earnestine M.; Richardson, Kristina L. (10 January 2022). Art and Religion in Medieval Armenia. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-1-58839-737-9.
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