Gandzasar

The Gandzasar Monastery, near the village of Vank in the Martakert district of Artsakh, has been called the “encyclopedia of Armenian architecture” and “an architectural masterpiece” by international experts. This monastery was founded by St. Gregory the Illuminator, whose zealous grandson, Grigoris, was martyred in these parts on his mission to spread Christianity to the Caucasian Albanians (Aghvank).

According to tradition, the head of St. John the Baptist, brought from Palestine, is buried on Mt. Vank. The Lord Hasan- Jalal Dolan built the St. John the Baptist Church at this holy site between 1216 and 1238. The rich ornamentation on the interior of the church is of special interest. At the base of the four main columns are bas-relief symbols of the four evangelists. The altar is adorned with geometric designs. The dome is a striking example of Armenian architecture, the exterior of which is decorated with biblical figures: Adam and Eve, Christ, and the Holy Theotokos. The gavit of the church, added in 1261 by Mankan, the wife of the Lord Hasan-Jalal Dolan, was an architectural innovation, serving as a prototype for the Haghpat and Mshkavank monasteries.

In addition to being a spiritual and cultural center, Gandzasar was also an important political center. At the end of the 14th century, the monastery became the episcopal residence of the Catholicosate of the Albanians, over which the influential Hasan- Jalalian dynasty ruled in the Middle Ages. In the early 18th century, leader of the Armenian liberation movement, Israel Ori conferred with compatriots and signed his letter to Russian Tsar Peter I at Gandzasar. In 1778, Hovhannes Catholicos wrote the Datastanagirk (Book of Judgments) at Gandzasar. In more recent times, Gandzasar played an important role as a center of national heritage through the Soviet era and during the Karabagh liberation movement.