Gandzasar monastery

Gandzasar Monastery (literally: “Mountain of Treasures”) is an outstanding monument of Armenian culture, a functioning monastery of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is located on the left bank of the Khachen River, near the village of Vank in Nagorno-Karabakh. Gandzasar was first mentioned by the Armenian Catholicos Ananias in the middle of the 10th century. The new, now known temple, was built by Prince Hasan-Jalal Dol “a pious, God-fearing and humble man, an Armenian by birth” in place of the old church mentioned in the 10th century and solemnly consecrated on July 22, 1240. According to the legend, the head of John the Baptist, who was brought down here from Cilician Armenia during one of the Crusades, was cut off in the tomb of the temple, which caused the church to be called Surb Hovhannes Mkrtich (St. John the Baptist).