ALJOC’VANK’ - St. Step’anos / XIII century
The convent, in its isolated position some kilometres to the east from the monastic complex of Gelard, is made up of a main church preceded by a gavit’ and a second church dedicated to the saints Peter and Paul next to the north wall of the first. The main church consists of a large central room in the form of a apse-style cross and covered by a drum dome. The external space is parallelepiped in shape. The western rooms are on two levels, the upper rooms being reached by means of corbel stairs.
The second church is a simple apse hall, once covered by barrel vaults that no longer exist, consisting of two rooms next to the apse and a further two to the south, entered from the nave. The Western entrance façade and part of that facing north were covered by blind arches, two of which at the sides of the entrance portal are covered by large stone relief depicting the saints Peter and Paul, the others showing carved or less elaborate crosses. A large, ruined gavit’ whose cover rests on four crossed arches of which only some pillars with the arch impost remain, was placed next to the western façade of the main church with its large richly framed portal.

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