Tanahat monastery

Tanahat monastery went up between the 8th and 13th centuries on ground that had older layers of use: a pagan temple dedicated to Anahit stood here first, and a Christian church was founded on the site in the 5th century. Locals also called it the Red Monastery, for the red stone used in its construction.

The historian Stepanos Orbelyan recorded that in 735 the body of Stepanos Syunetsi was buried at the monastery, with a small chapel raised over the grave. An early medieval cemetery spreads out next to the church complex.

Tanahat stayed in use as a working monastery until the late Middle Ages. It survives today in good condition.

Tanahat monastery sits in Vayots Dzor province, about 7 km southeast of Vernashen village — roughly 88 km east-southeast of Yerevan as the crow flies.