Gandzasar Monastery

The Gandzasar monastery is the largest and best preserved monastery in Karabakh. The monastery was first recorded in the 10th century AD; but the existing buildings are all from the 12th and 13th centuries. The bas-reliefs on the outer high top of the central building of St. John the Baptist Church are fine art of the same kind in Armenia.

We drove off and followed the "finding map" navigation guide to the next attraction. Today we left the main road of the Naka Republic to return to Armenia. The car left the capital Stepanakte for about 50 kilometers after an hour, 10:25 we arrived at the second attraction to visit Gandzasar Abbey. This road saw the Naka Republic Capital Airport on the roadside, so simple "international airport" is also the first time to see. Then a section of the road was misled by offline navigation, and there was a section of the sand and stone road in the countryside. The road conditions were very poor and the tortoises could only be bumpy. At that time, I was very worried that the planned journey today seemed to be going to be a bath. It was relieved to be back on the smooth asphalt of the main road. The church is currently built mostly from the 12th to 13th centuries and is currently the largest and best preserved church in Karabakh. The monastery, which sits on high ground surrounded by mountains, is now spectacular in the sun, with few people visiting it, and the empty parking lot is a few cars or two. We circled the church inside and outside, and according to the attraction introduction, we mainly watched the stone pillar reliefs near the doorway. All kinds of patterns are different but they are more exquisite. Next to this monastery is a newly built museum, and the very beautiful modern architecture that stands side by side with the dilapidated monastery in this deep mountain canyon seems a bit out of tune. Near this highland are many graveyards, which is probably the true manifestation of the monastery's attraction.