«Ավանի տաճարի հորինվածքի ստեղծագործական գաղափարը» - Արմեն ՂԱԶԱՐՅԱՆ

Armen Kazaryan's article addresses the problem of the genesis of the creative concept behind Avan Cathedral, a monument of the late 6th century that became the progenitor of the tetraconch type with corner niches in early medieval Armenian and Transcaucasian architecture.

Introduction and Methodology
The author challenges widespread theories of the evolutionary development of medieval typology and continuous copying of models, showing that such approaches reach a dead end when attempting to explain the origin of the initial, most complex compositions. The cathedral in Avan, built by Catholicos Hovhannes Bagaratsi as a symbol of opposition to the Dvin throne and simultaneously as an attempt to revive the tradition of Gregory the Illuminator through reference to the composition of Etchmiadzin, is examined as such an "exception to the rule."

Historical and Architectural Context
The author emphasizes the uniqueness of Avan's interior — a tetraconch with a wide domed square, narrow exedras, and intermediate rounded niches inscribed within a cube-shaped volume. It is noted that:
• schemes of evolutionary development from simple tetraconchs (Mastara, Ninotsminda) are not chronologically confirmed, since these monuments do not predate Avan;
• the hypotheses of J. Strzygowski and proponents of autochthonous development (A. Yeremyan, T. Marutyan, G. Chubinashvili) find no documentary basis;
• the concepts of A. Grabar, J.-M. Thierry, and the author himself link Avan's composition to an iconographic merging of the tetraconch and Byzantine octagon schemes, as well as to the simultaneous influence of Etchmiadzin and the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople.

Key Argument
The central thesis of the article turns to decorative and figurative art — the omphalia of Byzantine churches, in particular the omphalos of the katholikon of Iviron Monastery (1045–1056), constructed on the interweaving of thirteen circles. The author establishes a structural correspondence between this iconographic scheme and the plan of Avan Cathedral: the central circle and the four axial ones form the tetraconch, the four small diagonal circles correspond to the corner niches, and the four large diagonal circles correspond to the corner round domed chambers.

Artistic Concept
Kazaryan points out that the round shape of the corner rooms was functionally inconvenient and was subsequently rejected by the builders of all later churches of this type, which confirms that the composition originated from a conscious artistic design rather than from practical necessity. The cathedral's plan is described as "woven from rings," echoing weaving motifs found in early Christian mosaics.

Conclusion
The author concludes that the creators of Avan Cathedral acted as unique innovators, embodying in architectural form the figurative-symbolic model of the omphalos — a task rarely set before medieval builders. The problem of the genesis of the tetraconch type with corner niches, in the author's view, requires further examination beyond a purely iconographic approach.