This silver collector coin has been issued by the Central bank of Armenia under the international numismatic program “Armenian Monasteries and Churches” and is dedicated to Noravank. Noravank is a medieval monastic complex (13-14 centuries), located 3 km northeast from Amaghu village of Vayots Dzor province. It is fenced by stones and includes the major church of St Karapet with the attached vestibule, the burial vault of Prince Smbat and two-tier church of St Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God). Two chapels and the reserved walls of other structures are outside the stony fence. The Noravank’s buildings are decorated with the unique sculptural patterns of gospel scenes. The high-relief patterns around the vestibule’s western portal and windows, all authored by Momik, a talented sculptor and miniaturist, and the entrance tympanums decorated with high reliefs of the Holy Virgin with the child Jesus, are singled out among the other decorations. Noravank has several surviving khachkars by Momik, all of them being considered as masterpieces.The coin issued with colored inks.

Noravank (Armenian: Նորավանք, meaning "New Monastery" in Armenian) is a 13th century Armenian monastery, located 122km from Yerevan in a narrow gorge made by the Amaghu river, near the city of Yeghegnadzor, Armenia. The gorge is known for its tall, sheer, brick-red cliffs, directly across from the monastery. The monastery is best known for its two-storey Surp Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) church, which grants access to the second floor by way of a narrow stone-made staircase jutting out from the face of building. The monastery is sometimes called Noravank at Amaghu, with Amaghu being the name of a small and nowadays abandoned village above the canyon, in order to distinguish it from Bgheno-Noravank, near Goris. In the 13th–14th centuries the monastery became a residence of Syunik's bishops and, consequently. a major religious and, later, cultural center of Armenia closely connected with many of the local seats of learning, especially with Gladzor's famed university and library.

Rectangle 27 x 24 mm