Location and site

The complex of medieval buildings is set into a landscape of great natural beauty, at the entrance to the Azat Valley. High cliffs from the northern side surround the complex while the defensive wall encircles the rest. The monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley contains a number of churches and tombs, most of them cut into the living rock, which illustrates Armenian medieval architecture at its highest point.

Urban morphology

The main architectural complex was completed in the 13th century AD and consists of the cathedral, the adjacent narthex, eastern and western rock-cut churches, the family tomb of Proshyan princes, Papak’s and Ruzukan’s tomb-chapel, as well as various cells and numerous rock-cut cross-stones (khachkars). The Kathoghikè (main church) is in the classic Armenian form, an equal-armed cross inscribed in a square in plan and covered with a dome on a square base, linked with the base by vaulting. The east arm of the cross terminates in an apse, the remainder being square. In the corners are small barrel-vaulted two-story chapels. On the internal walls, there are many inscriptions recording donations. The masonry of the external walls is particularly finely finished and fitted. A gavit (entrance hall) links it with the first rock-cut church.

Registration Criteria

Criterion (ii): The monastery of Geghard, with its remarkable rock-cut churches and tombs, is an exceptionally well-preserved and complete example of medieval Armenian monastic architecture and decorative art, with many innovatory features which had a profound influence on subsequent developments in the region.

Historical Reference

• The monuments included in the property are dated from the 4th to the 13th century. In the early period, the Monastery was called Ayrivank (Monastery in the Cave) because of its rock-cut construction. The monastery was founded, according to tradition by St. Gregory the Illuminator, and was built following the adoption of Christianity as a state religion in Armenia (beginning of the 4th century AD).
• The monastery of Geghard is a renowned ecclesiastical and cultural center of medieval Armenia, where a school, scriptorium, library, and many rock-cut dwelling cells for clergymen could be found in addition to the religious constructions. Historians Mkhitar Ayrivanetsi, and Simeon Ayrivanetsi, who lived and worked there in the 13th century, contributed to the development of Armenian manuscript art. It was also renowned for the relics housed there.

Source: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/960/