Karmravor Church

Karmravor Church

Karmravor (Armenian: Կարմրավոր եկեղեցի; meaning "reddish" because of the color of its dome), also known as the Church of Holy Mother of God (Սուրբ Աստվածածին, Surb Astvatsatsin) is a 7th-century Armenian Apostolic church in the town of Ashtarak in the Aragatsotn Province. Surp Astvatsatsin is a small building with a cruciform central-plan and a dome with an octagonal drum and a Byzantine-style red tile roof. It measures only 19 feet 7 inches by 24 feet 6 inches, and is simply decorated with geometric and foliage patterns around the eaves and cornices. The apse is horseshoe shaped. Many of the original tiles on the roof which were laid on mortar have remained intact, and the church has had only some minor restoration during the 1950s.