Geghard Monastery

Geghard Monastery, located north-east of Garni is a monastery famous for it’s cave architecture – more than half of the complex is carved out of rock.

No one knows precisely when Geghard was established. However, it’s assumed that the monastery was most likely founded here in the 4th century. Monastery was originally called Ayrivank because of its location in natural and artificial caves.

The name Geghard is related to the legend about a spear-head – according to the story, the spearhead that pierced the side of Christ was kept in this monastery. Name of the monastery roughly translates as the “Monastery of the Spear”. Currently, this spear is kept in the Echmiadzin Monastery – our next stop.