ALAYAZ  / Xlllth century
The church of St. Stephen built in the Xlllth century by Stephen Orbelian stands on a high natural terrace overlooking the valley of Vayots' Dzor which leads up to Lake Sevan. It is a rare type of an open chapel composed of a vast apse with a threefold opening created by two columns and flanked by two small lateral chambers.
Some hundred meters below stands the minuscule cruciform chapel of St. John the Precursor (Karapet), with a tall drum and a very high conical roof.
In the case of both churches attention should be called to the polychromatic effect obtained by the use of brownish and purplish-blue volcanic rocks.

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