"Geghard Monastic Complex" a Geghard Travel Page by Groverdean

The Geghard Monastery is rightly the most visited sight in Armenia. It is set in the most dramatic of landscapes. If you visit Armenia, put this as a must! It is a completely unique place.Like something out of an Indiana Jones movie, the monastery inside is carved all from the soft cliff stone. It is perched above the canyon of the Azat River. Centuries before the arrival of Christianity, hermits had retreated from the world and taken refuge in the region's naturally occurring caves. According to tradition, St. Gregory the Illuminator converted these hermits and founded the first monastery in the early 4th century. No buildings have survived from these times and the oldest existing structure is the Church of the Virgin Mary, called Astvatsatsin, constructed in 1215 by the Zakarian family.

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Inside the amazing Geghard Monastery-Armenia

The current name of the monastery, Gheghardavank, means the Monastery of the Holy Lance and refers to one of the spears said to have pierced the body of Christ. This spear was once kept at Geghard but is now housed in the treasury of Echmiadzin (another spear, the Spear of Longinus is kept at the Weltliche Schatzkammer of the Hofburg in Vienna, Austria).