Crossed Arches in thirteenth Century Armenian Architecture

This work is on the formal-constructive theme of the crossed arches spreading in the historical Armenian regions during a period of big cultural and economic growth in order to have a wider and free inside space for civil meetings in connection with the church inside the monastic building. The typical domed space, not larger than 12 meters, was replaced by a new structural solution: a system of piers along the walls bearing two couples of parallel, usually pointed, arches. The meaning and the declination of this constructive form in Armenia distinguish it from the Iranian tradition of crossed arches in brick domes. The great variety of spaces covered by the system of crossed arches shows the ability of medieval builders who, starting from a structural problem, decline in various ways its formal potentialities. The highest concentration of this structural form is in the historical region of Lori-Tashir, under Bagratid power.