The Arates Monastery is located in Arates village of the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia. There is almost no bibliographic information about the monastery complex, although there are many inscriptions on the constructions of the complex.
The monastery complex consists of four large and five small constructions located next to each other. Three of the nine constructions are churches, whose names are mentioned in the inscriptions: Surb Sion, Surb Karapet and Surb Astvatsatsin. However, according to the inscriptions, it is not clear exactly what is the name of a concrete church.
As a whole the complex is dated back to the VII-XIII centuries. The Surb Sion Church and the chapels around, supposedly, were the first constructions built in the VII century.
A vestibule built by the efforts of Monastery Abbot Hayrapet, in all likelihood, by master of Noravank Siranes in the XIII century is distinguished among the constructions of the complex by its magnificent architectural composition.
Syunik Metropolitan, well-known historian Stepanos Orbelyan, gathering the spiritual diocese of Syunik around him in Noravank, decided to turn Arates into the summer residence of the bishop in the XIII century. In this regard, the complex was improved and became one of the famous spiritual centers of the XIII-XIV centuries.
