Geghard Monastery

Geghard is a medieval monastery complex near Garni, built where the rock face itself becomes wall and ceiling. Several of its chambers are cut straight into the mountain rather than built up from the ground — a technique that gives the site its enhanced UNESCO protection status, on top of its World Heritage listing.

The name means "spear" in Armenian. Tradition holds that the monastery once kept the spearhead said to have pierced Christ's side, brought to Armenia by the Apostle Thaddeus; it's now in the history museum at Vagharshapat (Echmiadzin). Before it took that name, the complex was known as Ayrivank, or "cave monastery," a plainer description of what you'll actually find inside.

It sits above the Azat river gorge, boxed in by cliffs on most sides. That setting is as much the point as the carved interiors — the rock walls close in around the complex, and the river cuts below it.

Geghard is in Kotayk province, near the village of Garni, roughly 40 km east of Yerevan and just slightly south of it.