Passing through the gate in the circuit wall, the gavit is on the left.
The facade of the gavit, which was built with a donation from Prince Vache I Vachutian in 1224, bears sculptures of a sphinx and a lion attacking a bull.
Inside the gavit, one reaches the earliest church, of the 10th or 11th century.

The narthex is four-columned.
Built before 1207, the it catered to both temples at the same time.
It contains a door which led to the communion bread bakery, a small vaulted room.
The decoration of the narthex is subordinated to the artistic features of the main temple, which shows especially clearly in ornamental carving.
The western portal has, like that of Geghard narthex, a stepped framing which includes the window above.
Bas-reliefs are carved on the middle ledge, at the sides of the window.
At the right side there is a winged sphinx with a crown on its head, and at the left side a lion attacking an ox.

The shaft of the south-western column of the interior is girdled with an eight-arch arcature, the capital is accentuated, on the transversal axis, by a large rosette above which, on the face of the arch, there is a relief representation of a dove with a lifted wing.
The abutment on the western side, corresponding to the column, has smaller vertical divisions than the other wall-attached abutments.
Rosettes of various designs, painted white, yellow and red, were cut on the flat ceilings of the corner sections.
The decoration of the central section was richer.
Floral ornaments covering the shield-shaped pendentives show birds in various attitudes.
The girth of transition to the 20-hedral base of the ceiling which probably consisted of six intersecting arches is composed of groove-divided triangular slabs, vertical and inclined.
Passing through the gate in the circuit wall, the gavit is on the left. The facade of the gavit, which was built with a donation from Prince Vache I Vachutian in 1224, bears sculptures of a sphinx and a lion attacking a bull. Inside the gavit, one reaches the earliest church, of the 10th or 11th century.
The narthex is four-columned. Built before 1207, the it catered to both temples at the same time. It contains a door which led to the communion bread bakery, a small vaulted room. The decoration of the narthex is subordinated to the artistic features of the main temple, which shows especially clearly in ornamental carving. The western portal has, like that of Geghard narthex, a stepped framing which includes the window above. Bas-reliefs are carved on the middle ledge, at the sides of the window. At the right side there is a winged sphinx with a crown on its head, and at the left side a lion attacking an ox.
The shaft of the south-western column of the interior is girdled with an eight-arch arcature, the capital is accentuated, on the transversal axis, by a large rosette above which, on the face of the arch, there is a relief representation of a dove with a lifted wing. The abutment on the western side, corresponding to the column, has smaller vertical divisions than the other wall-attached abutments. Rosettes of various designs, painted white, yellow and red, were cut on the flat ceilings of the corner sections. The decoration of the central section was richer. Floral ornaments covering the shield-shaped pendentives show birds in various attitudes. The girth of transition to the 20-hedral base of the ceiling which probably consisted of six intersecting arches is composed of groove-divided triangular slabs, vertical and inclined.
Makaravank