History, Geography and Ethnology

Principality of Khatchen (9th to 13th Century)

During the early decades of the 9th century, the Armenian principalities of Khatchen and Dizak started to gather force and stepped up their opposition to the Arab Caliphate, which had conquered the region during late 7th century. From 11th century, Artsakh and Khatchen were subjected to the attacks of the Seljuk Turks from the East, but were able to parry them successfully, most notably due to the mountainous area's inaccessible nature.

The time between the end of the 12th century and the first half of the 13th century was a period where Khatchen flourished. Several valuable Armenian architectural creations, which count as some of the masterpieces of Armenian architecture, derive from this period: John the Baptist Church, the vestibule of the Gandzasar Monastery (1216-1260);[11], Dadi Monastery Cathedral (1214) and Gtchavank Monastery Cathedral (1241-1248).

11) AL Jacobson, From the history of Armenian medieval architecture, (Gandzasar Monastery), in Russian.