Agarak monastery

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Monastery of Agarak Ագարակի վանք
Religion
Affiliation	Armenian Apostolic Church
District	Iĝdir province
Region	Armenian upland
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Destroyed by Turks in 1922[citation needed]
Status	Ceased functioning as a monastery in 1920
Location
Location
State	Turkey
Shown within Turkey
Geographic coordinates	40°05′00″N 43°25′57″E / 40.0833°N 43.4326°E / 40.0833; 43.4326Coordinates: 40°05′00″N 43°25′57″E / 40.0833°N 43.4326°E / 40.0833; 43.4326
Architecture
Architect(s)	Nerses Shinarar
Type	Armenian church
Style	Armenian
Completed	650 A.D.

Destroyed Armenian monastic complex of a few churches in Iĝdir province of modern Turkey.

Word formation[]

Monastery of Agarak was named by its settlement's name. Name Agarak is a historical name of the Egrek settlement in Iĝdir province of modern Turkey. Agarak (Armenian: Ագարակ) in Armenian for farm.

History[]

The monastery of Agarak was founded by Nerses Shinarar catholicos of Armenia sometime between 649-653 A.D. Agarak situated in the district of Historical Armenia's Ayrarat province that in 1918-1920 was attached to Surmari (acronym of words Saint Mary) district of Republic of Armenia in the 1920.

Current condition[]

The monastery today is a completely ruined structure in the village of Ekrek in Iĝdir province of Turkey.

Appearance[]

The monastery had a few churches and many well carved khachkar-monuments (cross-stones) nearby. Main church was named as Sourb Stephanos (Armenian: Սուրբ Ստեփանոս) (Saint Stephanus). Cross-domed church's roof had been tiled, and dome's top was made of a spherical stone crowned with a cross. Many architectural fragments had been found around the churches, including remains of a medieval stele with a statue of a woman holding a model of a basilica-church in her arms.