Churches and Monasteries

"Vayots Dzor was a ring without a stone; I cut and set that stone in the ring", said Princess Sophia, the founder of G'ndevank. The monastery is a true marvel in that mountainous region. G'ndevank is situated not far from the Jermuk spa, on the left side of the River Arpa valley, in a beautiful landscape. The church of St. Stepanos, the principle building, constructed in 936, is in its general plan a reproduction of the Armenian cruciform and central cupola'd church; it only lacks a pair of sacristies on the west face. The monastery complex is surrounded by fort-like walls. Once inside one of the entrances or walls, is the entire complex. There are some great carved stones all around the church, a large courtyard partly shaded by a large walnut tree, and the fort like walls, which have many chambers to explore. By entering certain rooms you can just crawl into lower chamber after chamber and in this fashion go about 3 stories underground. The excavations are incomplete, so like many monasteries there is the story that there is a tunnel leading to the river... Armenia. 08.2007. http://ylt.azhdahak.com