Dadivank monastery

Dadivank is in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), and stands at an altitude of 1100 m above sea level on the southern slope of a wooded mountain. From the east and west, small ravines bound the slope, a little lower they connect with each other and limit the small space lying between them, creating a kind of amphitheater. In addition to the main ensemble of the monastery, several chapels have been preserved on the surrounding hills. The monastery is located so that the view from any point outside or inside the monastery is striking in its beauty. According to chronicles, the Dadivank monastery was founded in the 1st century AD, on the site of the grave of Dadi, one of the disciples of the apostle Fadey (Tadeos). In a number of Armenian sources, the monastery is also called Arakelotz (that is, the Apostolic). Mkhitar Ghosh calls him “Arakeladir”, that is, “founded by the Apostle”, and perhaps Dadivank has not revealed all his secrets yet. Probably in the IV century, after the official acceptance of Christianity by Armenia around the grave of Dadi, the first, the oldest church of the monastery was built.