Surp Marinos Monastery Explained

Building Name:St. Marinos monastery (Srkhouvank)
Սուրբ Մարինոս վանք (Սրխուվանք)
Map Type:Turkey
Map Size:290
Location: Gürpınar District, Van province
Geo:38.335°N 43.3328°W
Region:Eastern Anatolia Region
State:Turkey
Status:Damaged by Turks in 1922
Functional Status:ceased functioning as a monastery in 1915
Architecture:yes
Architecture Type:Armenian church
Architecture Style:Armenian
Year Completed:12th century

St. Marinos is a ruined Armenian Orthodox monastery in the Gürpınar district of Van Province of Turkey, to the southeast of Lake Van.

History

The monastery is situated on a slope of a mountain overlooking the wide and fertile lower section of the valley of the Hoşap, now known as the Gürpınar plain and formerly called Hayots Dzor meaning: Valley of the Armenians. The date of the foundation of the St. Marinos monastery is not known, and the crudity of its construction makes its buildings difficult to date. It originally had the alternative name of Srkhouvank. It was founded to house a community of nuns and was dedicated to the female saints Marinos and Theodora. It had an active scriptorium during the second half of the 16th century: in Yerevan's Matenadaran museum there exist five manuscripts that are known to have originated in the convent.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Thierry, J.M. 'Monastères arméniens du Vaspurakan V', in: Revue des études arméniennes 8 (1971) pp.215-277, on Surp Marinos pp.218-221)