Kotavank

Kotavank is a medieval church built by the Haykazun branch of the Syunik princely family as a dynastic mausoleum, set on a hill above the Argitchi River near Nerkin Getashen village, south of Lake Sevan in Gegharkunik. A large medieval cemetery surrounds it, dense with khachkars (carved cross-stones). A newer cemetery next door has been creeping into the old one; many ancient tombstones now sit upturned in piles, moved from where they once stood.

More khachkars turn up on a second old hilltop cemetery nearby. In the village itself stands Jam, a small ruined basilica with khachkars and tombstones set into its walls. A modest shrine stands close by. Two medieval stone forts flank the area, one 2 km east and one 3 km west. Still more khachkars line the road up to the church.

The area was once known as Kot, and served as the district's center in the early medieval period. Invasions in the 10th and 11th centuries damaged both the settlement and the church; an earthquake caused further damage afterward. Restoration work is underway today.

Kotavank stands in Gegharkunik region, near Nerkin Getashen village, roughly 5 km from the town of Martuni and about 64 km east of Yerevan in a straight line.