The Gandzasar monastery (Armenian: Գանձասար) is an Armenianmonastery in Nagorno-Karabakh, situated in the Mardakert region, near the village of Vank. Gandzasar means treasure mountain or hilltop treasure in Armenian.[1]
On this site is the Church of St. John the Baptist (Սուրբ Յովհաննու Մկրտիչ եկեղեցի in Armenian), which was built between 1216 and 1238[2]. The complex is protected by high walls, which have exquisite bas-reliefs on the exterior walls that depict the Crucifixion, Adam and Eve, and two ministers holding a model of the church above their heads as an offering to God. The bas-reliefs have been compared to the elaborate carvings of Aghtamar, and some scholars and historians consider the monastery to represent one of the top masterpieces of Armenian architecture.
Gandzasar was the residence of an Armenian katholikos from about 1400 to 1816,[3] and is now the seat of the Archbishop of Artsakh.
Unexploded missile fired at the Gandzasar monastery by Azerbaijan's air force
Although the monastery was damaged during an Azeri bombing raid in 1991, and the house of the Father Superior was lost, Gandzasar is actively functioning today.
The monastery holds relics believed to belong to St Zechariah, father of John the Baptist.
References
^ Գանձ+ա+սար, Գանձ = Treasure; Սար = Mountain or hilltop
^Artsakh: A Photographic Journey by Hrair Khatcherian, p.13. OCLC37785365
