Surp Marinos Monastery

St. Marinos (Armenian: Սուրբ Մարինոս վանք) is a ruined Armenian Orthodox monastery in the Gürpınar district of Van Province of Turkey, to the southeast of Lake Van.

St. Marinos monastery (Srkhouvank)
Սուրբ Մարինոս վանք (Սրխուվանք)
Religion
RegionEastern Anatolia Region
Statusceased functioning as a monastery in 1915
Location
LocationTurkey Gürpınar District, Van province
StateTurkey
Surp Marinos Monastery is located in Turkey
Surp Marinos Monastery
Shown within Turkey
Geographic coordinates38°20′06″N 43°19′58″E / 38.3350°N 43.3328°E / 38.3350; 43.3328
Architecture
TypeArmenian church
StyleArmenian
Completed12th century

History

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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 (Armenian: Հայոց Ձոր) 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

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  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)