Amaras Monastery – Artsakh, Armenia

Amaras Monastery (Armenian: Ամարասի վանք, Azerbaijani: Amaras monastırı) is a monastery of the early Middle Ages located in the southeastern areas of Artsakh. It has also been the residence of the Catholicos of the Albanian church.

A major religious and cultural center of medieval Armenia, Amaras was subordinate to the Armenian Apostolic Church.

According to the administrative-territorial division of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh which actually controls the monastery, the temple is located in the Martuni district of Artsakh.

It was in this temple that Mesrop Mashtots founded his first school in the 5th century. The grandson of Gregory the Illuminator (baptist of Armenia) is also buried here. The church itself was founded by the Illuminator, as testified by the 4th-5th-century Armenian historian Pavstos Byuzand.