LMBATAVANK’ - St. Step’anos / VII century
This church, in a good state of preservation mainly in the aerial internal axis, may be found near the village of Lmbat, from which it takes its name. The exterior is built of elementary spaces one on top of the other, typical of this type of building with its free cross on the ground, the octagonal tambour higher up, culminating in a pointed pyramid shape.
In the north-west corner, a small apse chapel with barrel vaults, accessible from the outside, was added in the Middle Ages. The entrance arch may be found in the northern corner of the west wing above which opens a large one.
The internal space, vertically developed, tends to re-create the characteristics of a cross-shaped apse and tri-conical room. Indeed the north and south wings, like that of the west, that are rectangular at the base, contain a tubular-geometric design half-way up the walls similar to that of the central space. At the top of the western barrel vaults is the relief of a large cross that emphasizes the east-west axis.

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