- Sanahin
Infobox World Heritage Site
WHS = Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin
State Party = ARM
Type = Cultural
Criteria = ii, iv
ID = 777
Region = Europe and North America
Year = 1996
Session = 20th
Extension = 2000
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/777Sanahin ("Սանահին" in Armenian) is a village in the Northern
Lorri province ofArmenia , now considered part of the city ofAlaverdi (the cable car that connects it with the Alaverdi centre is supposed to have the steepest climb in the whole formerUSSR ). The village is notable for its monastery complex, founded in the 10th century and is listed as aUNESCO World Heritage Site along with monasteries inHaghpat .The name Sanahin literally translates from Armenian as "this one is older than that one", presumably representing a claim to having an older monastery than the neighbouring
Haghpat . The two villages and their monasteries are similar in many ways, and lie in plain view of each other on adissected plateau formation, separated by a deep "crack" formed by a small river flowing into theDebed river.As with Haghpat, Sanahin is frequented by an increasing number of tourists, due to its recent inclusion on the itineraries of numerous Armenian tour agencies, the beauty of its monastery complex matching that of Haghpat's. The complex belongs to the
Armenian Apostolic Church with numerouskhachkar s (stones with elaborate engravings representing a cross) andbishop gravesites scattered throughout it.Notable People from Sanahin
Sanahin was also the birthplace of the two well-known Mikoyan brothers.
Artem Mikoyan was a well known airplaneconstructor , and one of the "fathers" ofMiG .Anastas Mikoyan was thepolitician with the longest career of any member of the Sovietpolitburo . He was involved in negotiating theMolotov-Ribbentrop Pact , was a member of the Soviet delegation trying to improve relations withTito 'sYugoslavia , and played a major role in theCuban Missile Crisis negotiations. A fraction of visitors to the monastery also stop at the small nearby museum in the former school, run by Mikoyans' relatives.Gallery
External links
* [http://www.armenica.org/cgi-bin/armenica.cgi?=2=ba=1=baz0011 Sanahin at Armenica.org]
* [http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Sanahin_Monastery Armeniapedia.org article on Sanahin]
* [http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=777 UNESCO entry on Haghpat and Sanahin] - See "Advisory Body Evaluation" for detailed history.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.