The Surb Astvatsatsin, or Holy Mother of God, Church stands on a plateau overlooking the Arpa River and the village of Areni in Vayots Dzor. It belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church. Inscriptions name Momik Vardpet as the architect. Construction began in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century, and the church was completed in 1321.
It is a domed hall with a single nave and two aisles. One drum carries a conical umbrella dome on arched pendentives. There are two portals, on the south and the west, and a semicircular apse on the east wall.
A high-relief Virgin Mary stands above the west portal, and high-relief mythical creatures fill four drum panels. Tombstones and khachkars lie nearby. Momik is also known for his carvings at Noravank Monastery, about six kilometers southeast.
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