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The Gandzasar Monastery is perhaps the most important architectural monument of Artsakh and Armenia. It is located near the town of Vank of the Mardakert district of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, in the very heart of Artsakh's historical province of Khachen. For long a symbol of Artsakh's Armenian statehood, the word "Gandzasar" is translated from Armenian as "Treasure-Mountain" (with "gandz" meaning "treasure" and "sar" meaning "mountain"). And it is a treasure indeed. According to renowned Russian scholar A. L. Yakobson of St. Petersburg's Hermitage, Gandzasar Monastery is "the encyclopedia of Armenian architecture."

Professor Charles Diehl of Sorbonne, a prominent French art historian and specialist of Byzantium, called Gandzasar the third most important artifact of Armenian monastic architecture that is on the list of world architectural masterpieces.''TO BE CONTINUED(i have taken these photos myself sorry for not being that much professional!) you can find more information CLICK HERE   Gandzasarthe next day we visited this church  CLICK HERE   Ghazanchecoc