The architectural complexes of Sanahin and Haghpat are among the outstanding works of medieval Armenian architecture. In their artistic merits they transcend the limits of national culture.The monasteries are situated in the north Armenia, in the Tumanian district. Sanahin is now within the limits of Alaverdi city, and Haghpat is to the north-east of it, in the village of the same name. Standing on a high plateau, amidst low structures, they rise sharp against the background of steep forest-grown slopes of Bazum ridge. The ensembles are complemented by small churches built near them. The exact date of the foundation of Sanahin and Haghpat is unknown. Documentary evidence and monuments of material culture suggest that these structures date back to the middle of the 10^th century. The formation of Tashir-Dzoraget kingdom of the Kyurikids in 979 and the great attention paid to Sanahin and Haghpat by various rulers of Armenia and their vassals favored the construction of many religious and civil structures there. In these monasteries, especially in Sanahin, humanitarian sciences and medicine were studied, scientific treatises written and paintings, most miniatures, created. Built in the monasteries over three centuries were more than 20 various churches and chapels, four annexes, sepulchres, bell-towers, the building of the Academy, book depositories, refectories, galleries, bridges and other monumental structures, to say nothing of numerous dwelling and service premises. The main monastery buildings are grouped around their chief temples, forming integral architectural organisms. They are asymmetrical relative to their main axes, which lends them picturesqueness. Compactness and harmonious balancing of the complexes are achieved owing to the fact that each subsequent architect proceeded from the state of the ensemble that already existed and coordinated the shape and layout of his own buildings with it. What Sanahin and Haghpat complexes have in common is not only the compositional features of various structures. The architectural details and decoration of the monuments, which belong to the same epoch, have much in common and are even exactly alike in some cases, which gives us ground to presume that they were created by craftsmen of the same school. Most of the religious structures are of the cross-winged dome type and have annexes in four corners, or of the cupola hall type. The structures of the first type are: in Haghpat, St.Gregory church (1005), which lost its dome during the reconstruction in 1211; in Sanahin, St.Akop church (the 9^th century), St.Astvadsasin church, built some time between 928 and 944, and Amenaprkich church, completed in 966. Standing out among these churches is Amenaprkich built by Khosrovanuish, the wife of Ashot III Bagratuni. This majestic structure with a transversally-oriented interior crowned with a huge dome in the centre, has two-tier annexes. The altar apse and the dome drum were decorated with graceful arcatures which went well with the patchily ornamented window and door platbands accentuating the smooth spaces of the facades. The severe and majestic eastern façade is crowned in its gable with monumental sculptural group of Kings Kyurike and Smbat. Chronologically, this is the first high-relief representation of human figures with a model of a church, which gives it great importance in Armenian art. After the institution of the bishop’s throne in Sanahin in 979, the eastern façade of Amenaprkich church and the parts of the southern and northern facades adjacent to it were decorated with arcatures which enriched the outward appearance of the building. The triple and twin semicolumns with variously ornamented flat capitals and representations of fantastic creatures at the bases, imparted plasticity to the arcature and added to its artistic expressiveness. As a result of earthquakes, reconstruction and numerous repairs, the high dome was replaced by a low one. The internal abutments, reinforced by pilasters and wall arches, became heavier. The arcature of the altar apse was destroyed. The building lost some of its former grandeur. Nevertheless, its size and decoration are still quite impressive. The most important of the cupola-hall type buildings is Nshana church in Haghpat, founded by Khosrovanuish in 976 and completed in 991. It is distinguished by its compactness and harmoniously balanced shapes crowned with a tremendous dome. In the interior, the fancy shape of the high cupola abutments, protruding to the centre, is smoothly combined with high arches, resting on them and changing over from the semicircular to the pointed shape. The decoration, particularly ornamental carving, is very modest. A sculptural group of Smbat and Kyurike kings with a model of the temple in hands, a replica of that in Sanahin, is in a higher relief, which brings it closer to a three-dimensional sculpture fitted into a wall niche. This method of using sculpture also occurs in later monuments, for instance in the main temple of Arich monastery (1201). The interiors of Astvadsasin and Amenaprkich churches in Sanahin and Nshana in Haghpat, just as those of some other churches, were decorated with frescoes which are almost totally lost by now. The altar apse of Nshana church was decorated with frescoes twice, the last time in the second half of the 13^th century. Probably the whole of the interior was covered with frescoes, of which only the representation of Paron Khurlu-bugi on the southern wall is relatively well preserved. In its stylistic features – color tone, soft multilayer treatment of the picture, etc. – the technique of portraiture and of the murals of Kobaira and Haghtala monasteries is close to that of Georgian mural painting which was highly developed in the 12^th century. The infiltration of secular themes shows in the miniatures created by the artist Markare for the Haghpat Gospel of 1211. These miniatures are interesting not only for their artistic features, such as the intense and somewhat darkish color scheme, but also for the artist’s new attitude to the world. The miniature "The Entry into Jerusalem" shows a fragment of the city, a rich house and its owner. The khorans are decorated with men’s figures in secular costumes of those times. Of interest are the representations of standing men in expensive costumes, one with a jar and the other with a fish on a stick, and of a "gusan" musician sitting in the shade of a fruit tree. The church of Arutyun in Sanahin, dating back to the early 13^th century, is interesting from the point of view of its composition. Its interior is distinguished by two identical altar apses. Gregory chapel of the same church is a miniature concentric domed structure of the late 10^th century. Its plan is circular on the outside, and four-petal inside, with horseshoe-shaped apses which impart plasticity to the interior. A high three-step stylobate imparts a certain amount of grandeur to the small chapel. Previously the chapel was engirded with a graceful arcature with eight arches and unusual capitals and archivolts; the triangular niches and the framings of the openings were subordinated to its rhythm. The fine ornamental carving of the door tympan is of interest. The small churches and chapels of Haghpat and Sanahin are ordinary vaulted or domed structures differing from each other in size, details of composition and decorative features. Haghpat’s Astvadsasin church of 1025, for instance, has quiet proportions and a low dome, while Kusanats anapat (nunnery) of the early 13^th century has more dynamic proportions – the fractional bulk and a higher octahedral cupola decorated with an arcature composed of trefoil arches. Annex are the largest structures of Sanahin and Haghpat, interesting monuments of medieval Armenian architecture. They were intended for morning and evening services. Parishioners for whom there was no room left in the temple stood there. The annex also served as sepulchres for outstanding figures and for the aristocracy. The annex (zhamatuns) were added to churches, but there were also zhamatuns of the same type which stood separately from the church, sometimes next to it. In this case the zhamatuns did not only discharge their regular functions as annex but also served as places of meetings and councils of secular and church notables of the appropriate principality. Such zhamatuns include the so-called Amazasp building in Haghpat, erected in 1257. This is the usual type of structure rectangular in the plan with four inner abutments – the biggest such structure in Armenia. Identical columns and wall abutments, as well as the vaulted roofings of perimetral sections, devoid of ornamentation, add to the expressiveness of the tori-decorated octahedron of the central part. The squat proportions of the building and its architectural details create the impression of interior and exterior heaviness. A small annex is attached to the chapel on the eastern side. The annex of Amenaprkich church in Sanahin also belongs to the four-pillar type. It was built in 1181 by the architect Zhamhair at the expense of Father Superior Ovanes and the prince’s family. This is an early example of the widespread buildings of this type based on the composition of the Armenian peasant home with four internal pillars. The artistically expressive columns which harmoniously divide the interior into separate parts predominate in the strictly centric interior. The bases and capitals of the columns are decorated with carvings and relief representations of the heads of the animals, which are of symbolic significance, of stylized fruit and jars. The rectangular portal of the northern entrance is emphasized by a geometrical ornament.The vestry of Astvadsasin church in Sanahin, erected by Prince Vache Vachutian in 1211, is of a different type. It is a three-nave hall covered with vaults and steep two-slope roofs. The arrangement of the naves emphasizes the lateral axis of the complex. The columns of the interior are similar, differing only in the shape of the bases, shafts, capitals and in their ornamentation. The grandeur and monumentality of heavy arcades, of the low arches and of the high vaults which seem to draw the walls apart give the interior an integral and expressive character. The vestry of Nshana church, the most outstanding structure of Haghpat, has an intricate spatial arrangement. Originally, it was a small vaulted gallery-type sepulchre of the Kyurikid kings, built in 1185. Under Father Superior Ovanes of Khachen, it was extended westwards in 1209. The architectural and compositional features of the vestry of Nshana church had a substantial influence on the formation of many structures of medieval Armenia, especially civil ones. Vestries and galleries, as well as special structures, served as sepulchres for members of aristocracy. There were several such structures in Sanahin and Haghpat. They differed from each other in their architectural composition, which is evidence of the great creative ingenuity of their architects. The most ancient of them is the sepulchre of Kyurike and David Kyurikids in Sanahin which consisted of two vaulted cells, isolated from each other, one built at the end of the 10^th century, and the other in the middle of the 11^th century. The sepulchre of Zakharid princes in Sanahin is more complicated. Its eastern part of the end of the 10^th century and the beginning of the 11^th century is a basement crypt with a vault on wall arches and with chapels rising above it, of which the middle one is rectangular in the plan, and the side ones are round and double-storeyed. The latter are of a type stylistically close to St.Gregory chapel from which they differ by their miniature size and by the gracefulness of their architecture. Built in 1189, the western part is simpler – it is a premise rectangular in the plan, with an original large ornamented portal. The sepulchre of Ukaniants family in Haghpat (the early 8^th century) is made as tree large rectangular memorial chapels standing side by side. These also serve as pedestals for khatchkars. Such structures were simplified-chapels were replaced by pedestals cut by deep niches – as, for instance, in the tombstone with a 1268 khatchkar in Ashtarak. The bell-towers of Sanahin and Haghpat are the earliest examples of structures serving this purpose. These are tall three-floor towers with small annexes at various levels and a many-column rotund belfry on top. Sanahin’s bell-tower, built between 1211 and 1235, is of severe and laconic appearance. The 1245 bell-tower in Haghpat is less conventional. Its first storey is cross-shaped in the plan, and the second one rectangular, with the angels cut off. The transition between the two is formed by trompes beautifully decorated with original combinations of trefoils. The artistic composition of Haghpat’s bell-tower found its reflection not only in later bell-towers, such as the one in Kars, but also in various other buildings – mausoleums and even churches. Sanahin Academy is an original work of civil architecture built in two stages at the end of the 10^th century and at the beginning of the 11^th century. This structure, rectangular in the plan, is roofed over numerous closely spaced arches resting on pillars attached to the church walls. The spaces between pillars are decorated with deep arched niches, presumable intended for the audience. The refectory of Haghpat stands out among the civil monuments of monuments Armenia. This structure, dating back to the middle of the 13^th century is rare in its architectural composition. The prototypes of its roofing can be seen in the palace halls of Dvin and Haruch and in the guest rooms of the peasant home. In the character and details of decoration, the interior of the refectory is close to that of Haghpat’s book depository, which suggests that the two were created by architects of the same school. Sanahin and Haghpat complexes are especially rich in khatchkars (more than 80 of them have survived), which were intended not only as memorials. Some of them were installed to mark various events: in Sanahin, one was put up on the occasion of building a bridge in 1192, another one, of building an inn in 1205, and others are Tepagir (1011), Tsiranavor (1222), etc. In Haghpat, khatchkars were built to perpetuate philanthropic activities of the persons whose names are inscribed on them (Amenaprkich, 1273). Sophisticated ornamental compositions and their very high artistic level put the khatchkars of Sanahin and Haghpat among outstanding works of Armenian art.