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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, ARMENPRESS: The Government of the Republic of Armenia will allocate 7,2 million drams to the reconstruction works of the Kobayr Monastery of Lori. Armenpress reports that the Deputy Minister of Culture of Armenia Arthur Poghosyan stated at the session of the Government that this year the construction works of the bell tower will be completed.
According to the Deputy Minister, the reconstruction works of Aruchavank are successfully continued by the Italian specialists in Aragatsotn Marz.
The Government of the Republic of Armenia continues also the building works of Sanahin monastery complex. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan has visited Sanahin for several times to get acquainted with the works.
The group of the Armenian and Italian expedition members launched activities in the Kobayr Monastery of Lori to save the fabulous frescos from the devastating rainwater. The Scientific Worker of the Archeology and Ethnology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia Arthur Petrosyan stated this in a conversation with Armenpress. Italian expert Stephano Volta underscored that the ongoing activities are of a certain importance as there is an imminent danger of losing exquisite frescos.
Kobayr is a 12th-century Armenian monastery located in the village Kober within Lori Marz, Armenia. The monastery was built on a shelf of a gorge by the princes of the junior Bagratuni branch, Kyurikids in 1171. The monastery was later acquired by the Zakarids and converted into a Chalcedonian monastery. The inscriptions in the monastery are written in Armenian and Georgian. Prince Shahnashah Zakarian is buried in the monastery. A bell tower in the middle of the complex was built in 1279 to house the tombs of Mkhargryel Zakarian and his wife Vaneni. The monastery is currently undergoing renovation funded by the government of Armenia with the assistance of the government of Italy. The ruins of the main church in the monastery contain frescoes of Christ and the twelve apostles as well as the Church Fathers and other Christian figures.