Dadivank


Dadivank, also Khutavank, is an Armenian monastery in the Shahumian Region of the Republic of Artsakh. It was built between the 9th and 13th centuries.

History and architecture

The monastery was founded by St. Dadi, a disciple of Thaddeus the Apostle who spread Christianity in Eastern Armenia during the first century AD. However, The monastery was first mentioned in the 9th century. In July, 2007, the grave of St. Dadi was discovered under the holy altar of the main church. The princes of Upper Khachen are also buried at Dadivank, under the church's gavit.
The Monastery belongs to the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and consists of the Cathedral church of St. Astvadzadzin, the chapel and a few other buildings. The main church has Armenian script engraved into its walls, in addition to several 13th century frescoes. The bas-relief on the south facade of the cathedral at Dadivank, built in 1214, shows the princess offering the church in memory of her sons. According to Paolo Cuneo, Dadivank is one of two Monasteries along with Gandzasar where bust motifs can be found.
On 8 October 2001, motion 9256 was proposed at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on behest of sixteen parliamentary members. According to the motion, "the local Muslim population regarded as remnants of the Armenian Christian religion and ruined the monastery as it could".

Restoration

In 1994, following the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh war, the monastery was reopened and in 2004, a renovation process began with funding from Armenian-American businesswoman Edele Hovnanian, ending in 2005. The restoration efforts restored the cathedral, along with a chapel which was restored by Edik Abrahamian, an Armenian from Tehran, Iran.
In August 2017, Italian specialists who had previously conducted restoration operations at Davidank returned to continue their cleaning and restoration of the monastery. They had already restored of the four chapels and their frescoes, and were now planning to restore inscriptions and ornaments near the doors to the chapels. The entire restoration project is planned to be completed by 2020.

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