Vahanavank

Vahanavank is a 10th-11th century Armenian monastic complex located approximately 5 kilometers west of the town of Kapan in the Syunik Province of Armenia, situated at the foot of Tigranasar mountain along the right bank of the Voghdji River.

The monastery was built over a Bronze Age grave field (13.-11. BCE) by Prince Vahan Nakhashinogh, of which it gets its namesake, the son of Prince Gagik of Kapan, in the early 10th century. The Armenian historian Stepanos Orbelian (c. 1250 – 1305) wrote that the prince had taken on a monk's robe and lifestyle to cure himself of demonic possession. In the year 911, Prince Vahan gathered 100 like-minded clerics and built the church of Surb Grigor Lusavorich (St. Gregory the Illuminator). It is the oldest among the structures at Vahanavank. The church is a domed hall like building with a main temple and a pair of sacristies. The drum rises on huge steeple rocks. The church has a west and south entrance.

The portico stretches to the south of the church and the narthex. Kings and princes of Syunik are buried here. Prince Vahan was buried near the door to the church.