Geghard Monastery (Kotayk province - Armenia) - World Heritage Sites on Waymarking.com

Medieval Geghard Monastery, famous for its churches and halls carved in the rocks, is one of the most visited historic monuments of Armenia and also is listed in UNESCO World Heritage List...

The astounding Geghard monastery is known as one of the greatest spiritual and cultural centers of Armenia. Originally called Ayrivank (or the Monastery of the Caves), the history of Geghard fades into pre-Christian times. The existing structures date back into the 10-13th centuries, when the monastery was renamed to "Geghard" - meaning "spear" in Armenian. The association itself harkens back to the times of Jesus, when a spear was used by a Roman soldier to pierce the body of Christ during the Crucifixion. The spear was long housed at Geghard, but is now in the museum of Ejmiatsin Cathedral.

Geghard itself is an architectural wonder – a complex of churches hewn from within a mountain of solid rock. The most ancient cave-church of St. Gregory (7th century) is outside the monastery walls. The key structure, the church of the Virgin (Katoghike), is a cruciform building from the second quarter of the 13th century. Two cave-churches were constructed in 1263, along with the family sepulchre of the Proshian Princes. Their coat of arms is carved in the rock: two chained lions and an eagle with half-spread wings, whose claws grasp a calf.