Sanahin

Infobox World Heritage Site
WHS = Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin


State Party = ARM
Type = Cultural
Criteria = ii, iv
ID = 777
Region = Europe and North America
Year = 1996
Session = 20th
Extension = 2000
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/777

Sanahin ("Սանահին" in Armenian) is a village in the Northern Lorri province of Armenia, now considered part of the city of Alaverdi (the cable car that connects it with the Alaverdi centre is supposed to have the steepest climb in the whole former USSR). The village is notable for its monastery complex, founded in the 10^th century and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with monasteries in Haghpat.

The name Sanahin literally translates from Armenian as "this one is older than that one", presumably representing a claim to having an older monastery than the neighbouring Haghpat. The two villages and their monasteries are similar in many ways, and lie in plain view of each other on a dissected plateau formation, separated by a deep "crack" formed by a small river flowing into the Debed river.

As with Haghpat, Sanahin is frequented by an increasing number of tourists, due to its recent inclusion on the itineraries of numerous Armenian tour agencies, the beauty of its monastery complex matching that of Haghpat's. The complex belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church with numerous khachkars (stones with elaborate engravings representing a cross) and bishop gravesites scattered throughout it.

Notable People from Sanahin

Sanahin was also the birthplace of the two well-known Mikoyan brothers. Artem Mikoyan was a well known airplane constructor, and one of the "fathers" of MiG. Anastas Mikoyan was the politician with the longest career of any member of the Soviet politburo. He was involved in negotiating the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was a member of the Soviet delegation trying to improve relations with Tito's Yugoslavia, and played a major role in the Cuban Missile Crisis negotiations. A fraction of visitors to the monastery also stop at the small nearby museum in the former school, run by Mikoyans' relatives.

Gallery

External links

* [http://www.armenica.org/cgi-bin/armenica.cgi?=2=ba=1=baz0011 Sanahin at Armenica.org]
* [http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Sanahin_Monastery Armeniapedia.org article on Sanahin]
* [http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=777 UNESCO entry on Haghpat and Sanahin] - See "Advisory Body Evaluation" for detailed history.