| Tsiranavor ChurchThe church of Tsiranavor (V c) is located at the edge of a gorge in the town of Ashtarak in the Aragatsotn province. Nearby are the churches of Spitakavor, Karmravor, Surb Mariane, and Surb Sarkis. In the gorge is a unique bridge built in 1664.
According to a legend, three sisters lived in Ashtarak, all of whom fell in love with the same man, prince Sargis. The elder two sisters decided to commit suicide in favor of the youngest one. One wearing an apricot-orange dress and the other wearing a red dress, they threw themselves into the gorge. When the youngest sister found out, she put on a white dress and also threw herself into the gorge. Sargis then became a hermit and three small churches appeared at the edge of the gorge, named after the sisters' dress colors.
It's a three-nave hall with dimensions of 19, 15 x 9, 40 m. Two entries from south and west lead to the church. The walls, the eastern wing, the half-cylindrical floor of southern nave survived (the church was partially restored in 1963-1964).
In order to defend the church, a second wall surrounding the church was built in XVII c from northern and western sides, and above the southern wall a gun-slot was erected. There are two windows divided by a pillar in the west wall.The remainders of two joining to the northern wall pilasters of rectangle section (which are a little off from the transversal axis of pylons of T-shaped form) evidence about the reconstruction of the church- the original wooden floor was replaced by a vaulted one.
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