Aghitu Memorial
VI - VII - Syunik Marz
A nice monument on the road to Vorotnavank Monastery, Aghudi is 1,500 years old and appears on the old 1,000 dram note issued in 1993.
Among the monuments of Armenian architecture, between the 5th and 7th centuries, steles and funeral structures deserve special mention. At that period the intention to dignify local panoramas is plainly felt. The Armenian Church attaches special importance to such glorification and these holy places. It is not by chance that the monuments there found, originally very modest, are modified into constructions important in size and wealth of decoration. In the same vein, one has to notice the evolution of the form of the funeral stele, which served in those days as a mount for carved scenes depicting the activities of local saints (Odzun). The sixth century mausoleum of Aghudi arouses more curiosity and admiration than any other monument of the same kind. The style of this memorial found an echo in the architecture of tower shaped and two-storeyed mausoleum-memorials of subsequent centuries. (Monuments of Armenia)