Monastery of Saint George of Koms

The monastery of Saint George of Koms stands a short distance from the south shore of Lake Van, in the canton of Yerevark, to the east of the monastery of the Holy Precursor of Sorp (n° 15), at 38° 28’N and 42° 37’E. Dedicated to Saint George because it once held his head, it is designated by the name of a village located further to the south, Komk‘ or Koms [Çanakdüzü], on the other side of a pass.

In the absence of written evidence, the dating of the monastery, and in particular of its church, depends on analysis of its structural and decorative features. These juxtapose archaic solutions and newer, incompletely integrated influences, pointing in all likelihood to the early 10^th century and the reign of King Kakig. An inscription indicates that the wall surrounding the monastery was restored in 1750, but being increasingly exposed to attacks, the community deserted the monastery in the 1830s. The priors, traditionally bishops of Garjgan, withdrew to Koms, where the relics of Saint George were also moved for safety. These circumstances are illustrated by traces of two nearby villages abandoned at the same period. For a time during the 19^th century, the buildings housed an orphanage. The monastery once owned vast tracts of land.

Vue sud-est, 2007 (Coll. privée)

The monastery of Saint George in Koms, which must have answered to a different name in the Middle Ages, thus explaining the silence of the sources, is composed of the church of Saint George, measuring 8.4 × 6.5 m, a cross in square, which has a nearly oval drum with a cupola mounted on squinches, with absidioles and niches under arches surmounted by lateral chambers; a high wall with two corner towers marking the south wall and a door in the north end of the east wall; as well as convent buildings to the north and west of the church.

Plan (Thierry, 1989, 255)

This monastery, whose location and architecture surprised its visitors, was confiscated after the Great War and left empty. In the 1970s, the outbuildings had collapsed, as had the better part of the towers. The church had also lost some of its covering slabs. Since then, the cap of the dome has disappeared and there is a hole in the southeast corner of the uncovered roof of the church; the yard wall has also collapsed in several places, while excavations disfigure the site.