Culture

Goshavank, Armenian Monastery

Goshavank is a 12th- or 13th-century Armenian monastery located in the village of Gosh in the Tavush Province of Armenia.

Goshavank was erected in the place of an older monastery once known as Nor Getik, which had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1188. Mkhitar Gosh, a statesman, scientist, and author of numerous fables and parables as well as the first criminal code, took part in the rebuilding of the monastery.

At Goshavank, Mkhitar Gosh founded a school. One of its alumni, an Armenian scientist by the name of Kirakos Gandzaketsi wrote The History of Armenia.

The architect Mkhitar the Carpenter and his disciple Hovhannes also took an active part in the building of the monastery. The complex was later renamed Goshavank and the village was named Gosh in his honor.

The impressive monastery which has remained in relatively good condition also houses one of the world’s finest examples of a khachkar.

by Nouné Yeranosian

Read Also:

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

Azerbaijan’s Cultural Propaganda Against Armenian Heritage: Evidence, Mechanism, and the Cost to the Peace Process

What independent observers are documenting The most systematic data on the fate of Armenian monuments…

1 day ago

Dadivank and Gandzasar: Two Armenian Monasteries, and the Manufactured Case Against Them

On September 12, 2026, a delegation of some 150 diplomats and representatives from 58 countries,…

3 days ago

The September Days: How the Armenians of Baku Were Massacred in 1918

On September 15, 1918, the oil city of Baku fell to a joint Ottoman-Azerbaijani force,…

5 days ago

From Akroinon to Afyonkarahisar: The Ruined Armenian Church and the Erasure of a 3,000-Year-Old Christian Presence

A case study in the systematic destruction of Armenian heritage in Turkey and Azerbaijan The…

1 week ago

Trampling Through the Centuries: How Baku-Accredited Diplomats “Toured” Gandzasar

On September 11–12, 2026, around 150 diplomats from 58 countries accredited in Baku took part…

1 week ago

Subartu: The Forgotten Northern Deep of Armenian History

A name from the world's oldest archives Long before Urartu, long before "Armenia" appears in…

1 week ago