The Haghartsin Monastery Complex is located 18 km from Dilijan city of the Tavush region of Armenia. The complex was built in the X-XIII centuries. The construction work was started by representatives of the Bagratuni princely family, but the monastery complex acquired its final appearance during the reign of the Zakaryans.
"Haghartsin" in literal translation from Armenian means "play of eagles". According to a legend, eagles circled in the sky during the consecration ceremony of the main temple. People fascinated by the wonderful play of eagles called the complex «the monastery of playing eagles». The reflection of the legend may be seen on the eastern wall of the main temple in the form of a bas-relief depicting two priests holding a layout of the church in their hands, and an eagle is soaring above them.
In the XIII century, the Haghartsin Monastery received as a gift a bronze cauldron weighing 350 kg, being one of the highly artistic samples of metal processing in the territory of Armenia. The four handles of the cauldron are made in the form of lions. The bronze cauldron is now kept in the History Museum of Armenia.
There are 3 churches, chapels, a refectory and khachkars on the territory of the complex. The Surb Grigor Church is the oldest church of the monastery complex. There is no bibliographic information about the structure, but, according to the majority of researchers, it is dated back to the X-XI centuries. According to a record about the restoration of the Surb Grigor Church, it was destroyed by the Seljuks and rebuilt in 1184. The church has a cross-domed composition. In the inner rectangular space there is a cruciform chapel and sacristies in the corners. The church is crowned with a dome on an octagonal drum. The structure is built of local yellowish limestone. From the inside, the church is lined with semi-finished stones, from the outside the church is lined with hewn stones. The inner walls are covered with lime mortar, on which some traces of painting have been preserved. The only entrance to the church is from a vestibule from the western side.
A four-column vestibule built by Ivane Zakarian in the XII century adjoins the Surb Grigor Church from the west, and the domed Surb Stepanos Church adjoins it from the north.
The Surb Astvatsatsin Church is the main church of the complex, which is a domed hall. The remains of the ruined vestibule have been preserved in front of the church. The refectory of the monastery, which is a rectangular columned hall, is an interesting building by its architectural composition.
Last time the complex was restored at the expense of Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad al-Qasimi in 2005. $5 mln was spent on the restoration of the complex.
