Geghard

Geghard

The Geghard Monastery is a half-rock-carved monastery complex in Armenia's Kotayk province, built in the 10th-13th centuries and a World Heritage Site since 2000. According to tradition, the monastery was founded in the 4th century by Saint Gregory the Illuminator. The spring that flows from the cave was considered holy in pagan times, and one of the names of the monastery was the Monastery of the Cave. The first monastery was destroyed by the Arabs in the 9th century, and none of the buildings from that time remain. In the 4th, 8th and 10th centuries, it included residential and outbuildings in addition to churches. In 923, Nasr, a sub-regent of the caliph, sacked the monastery and burnt the buildings. The Ruins were further damaged by earthquakes. After Georgian Queen Tamar I reconquered most of Armenia from the Turks, the main church was rebuilt in 1215. The entrance hall, partially carved out of the rock, was built before 1225 and after Prince Pros Hagbakyan bought the monastery in the mid-13th century, several smaller chapels were carved into the rock. His successors further expanded Geghard, building a second cave church and a family tomb. Prince Hagbakjan himself was buried here in 1283. In its heyday it was known as the Monastery of the Seven Churches and the Monastery of the Forty Altars. Geghard was also famous for the holy relics kept here, which attracted pilgrims from far and wide. The most famous of these is the spear of Longinus, with which Jesus was killed. The blade is quite wide, diamond-shaped and has a cross cut into it. Its holder was made in 1687 and is now kept with the spear in Vagarsapat.