Artashavan

Artashavan lies in the uplands of Aragatsotn, near the gorge of the Arjut. Its church of Saint Thaddeus was built in the thirteenth century as a three-aisled basilica of black and red tuff. Rebuilt in the late Middle Ages, it endured the violent earthquake of 1679, which damaged its walls and roof. Another earthquake in 1827 brought the building down, leaving fragments of its masonry beside the gorge.