The 15 best monasteries and churches in Armenia

Updated August 2026 · Chosen editorially. Rankings are never sold.

Fifteen monasteries and churches, chosen across ten regions of Armenia: Lori, Shirak, Syunik, Vayots Dzor, Ararat, Armavir, Aragatsotn, Kotayk, Tavush, and Gegharkunik. Tatev and Geghard both make the list, alongside the rest, organized here so you can plan by region rather than treat it as a ranking.

1. 1
   Haghpat MonasteryLori

   Haghpat Monastery is a 10th-13th century Armenian Apostolic complex in Haghpat, Lori region, still active today.

2. 2
   HovhannavankAragatsotn

   Hovhannavank is a medieval monastery set right on the rim of the Kasagh River gorge, at the edge of Ohanavan village in Aragatsotn province.

3. 3
   Odzun ChurchLori

   Odzun Church is an Armenian basilica of roughly the 5th–7th century, standing in Odzun village in Lori — one of the country's early church sites.

4. 4
   Sanahin MonasteryLori

   Sanahin Monastery, founded in the 10th century in Lori province, ran a scriptorium and academy for medieval learning — now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

5. 5
   Tatev MonasterySyunik

   Tatev Monastery in Syunik is built around the church of St. Gregory the Illuminator, rebuilt in the mid-9th century by the Syunik prince Philipe.

6. 6
   Yereruyk BasilicaShirak

   Yereruyk Basilica, near Anipemza in Shirak province, is one of Armenia's oldest surviving churches, built in the 4th-5th century over a former pagan temple.

7. 7
   Geghard MonasteryKotayk

   Geghard is a medieval monastery in Kotayk province, part carved directly into cliff rock and protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

8. 8
   Haghartsin MonasteryTavush

   Haghartsin Monastery near Dilijan in Tavush: three medieval churches, a gavit and a refectory, built between the 10th and 13th centuries in wooded hills.

9. 9
   Khor VirapArarat

   Khor Virap is the monastery on Armenia's Ararat Plain where, by tradition, Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned for 13 years.

10. 10
    SevanavankGegharkunik

    Sevanavank is a monastic complex on a Lake Sevan peninsula that used to be an island, before Soviet-era draining dropped the water 20 meters.

11. 11
    Harichavank MonasteryShirak

    Harichavank Monastery is a 7th-century Armenian monastery near Harich village in Shirak province.

12. 12
    Noravank MonasteryVayots Dzor
13. 13
    Akhtala MonasteryLori

    Akhtala Monastery, a 10th-century fortress-monastery in Lori region, holds Armenian-Chalcedonian frescoes painted in the early 1200s.

14. 14
    Etchmiadzin CathedralArmavir
15. 15
    AruchavanqAragatsotn

    Aruchavanq, the Cathedral of Aruch, is a 7th-century church in Aragatsotn ranked among the largest and most significant built in medieval Armenia.