Ahtamar Adasi

In contrast to the white-washed frescoes inside the four-conch principal Church of the Holy Cross which date from 921 and are the oldest known examples of Armenian frescoes, the reliefs on the external wall (restored in 1963) of the 1316 annex (chapel) provide the real attraction. Situated to the northeast, this wall was extended to the west with a porch in 1763 and by a bell-tower to the south in 1900. The reliefs beneath the roof ledge depict such well-known themes as Adam and Eve, the Angels, David and Goliath, Abraham and Isaac, Jonah and the Whale, Jesus the Child, Christ, King Gagik with a model of the church, human faces amid vines, animal figures, the heads of the Evangelists - all intertwined with more animals and vines. An Armenian cemetery with some interesting gravestones can be found in the vicinity of the church.