Roofing in Armenia

Armenia is known above all for its stone churches, roofed in stone from vault to covering, and for the corbelled timber lantern roofs (glkhatun or hazarashen) of its traditional houses. Both answer the same conditions: a mountainous, earthquake-prone country with plentiful volcanic stone.

Climate and hazards

Armenia is a high, mountainous, continental country with cold winters. The region is earthquake-prone, and Armenian buildings tend to be low-slung and thick-walled in response.

Roofing history

Urartu. Urartian temples of the first millennium BC had massive stone lower walls, small square interiors and upper storeys of mud brick that have not survived, so their roofs are unknown.

Hellenistic. The Temple of Garni, of the 1st century AD, is in a fully Hellenistic style.

Early Christian. After Armenia's conversion to Christianity in 301, the first churches were built between the 4th and 7th centuries, mostly as simple basilicas. By the 5th century the central cupola cone was widely used, and by the 7th century centrally planned churches had appeared; Zvartnots Cathedral dates from the 7th century.

Medieval. Medieval churches typically carry a conical or semi-conical, radially segmented dome on an (often octagonal) drum above stone vaults. The pointed dome form is often said to echo Mount Ararat. Roofs meet at the base of the drum in both basilicas and centrally planned churches.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Stone church roofs: almost entirely of volcanic tuff or basalt, with stone vaulted ceilings and an outer roof of finely cut tuff "shingles".
• Glkhatun / hazarashen: the Armenian name for the corbelled timber lantern roof also found in Georgia (darbazi), Turkey and Azerbaijan, in which stepped courses of logs rise to a central light and smoke opening. See darbazi.

Notable roofs

• Etchmiadzin Cathedral: the mother church, dated in its current form from 483/4 with work into 1868.
• Zvartnots Cathedral (7th century): early centrally planned church, now ruined.
• Garni Temple (1st century AD): Hellenistic temple.
• Medieval monasteries with conical tuff domes.

Local roofing terms

• glkhatun / hazarashen - corbelled timber lantern roof of traditional houses

Sources and gaps

Detailed climate data for roofing, data on current roofing materials in Armenian housing and information on modern roofing, codes and industry: published information is limited.