St. Sargis Church, Ashtarak, Armenia

St. Sargis church of Ashtarak was built in XIX century on the place of an old church. It is an umbrella type domed church with a single drum and four small windows on it. The interior stones were not changed, yet the exterior facades have had restoration work done recently. The church looks to be new, however, the older interior stones with inscriptions and decorative reliefs tell us about the original age of the church. St. Sargis is located at the edge of a gorge and offers a fine view to the three churches of Karmravor (reddish), Tsiranavor (apricot hue ) and Spitakavor (whitish).

There is an old legend about these three churches; According to an old legend, three sisters living in Ashtarak fell in love with young man Sargis. In favor of the youngest one the two elder sisters decided to commit suicide. One wearing an apricot dress and the other red dress, threw themselves into a gorge. Finding the sisters dead, the youngest sister put on a white dress and also threw herself into a gorge. After sisters' death broken hearted Sargis became a hermit... The three small churches - Karmravor (reddish), Tsiranavor (apricot hue) and Spitakavor (whitish) at the edge of the gorge, named after the sisters' dress colors.