Gandzasar monastery

Gandzasar monastery () is a 13th-century Armenian monastery situated in the Mardakert region of Nagorno-Karabakh, near the village of Vank. "Gandzasar" means treasure mountain or hilltop treasure in Armenian.Thus, the name divided into syllables, Գանձ+ա+սար, is translated as գանձ = treasure; սար = mountain or hilltop, with the letter "-ա-" (-a-), forming an agglutinative compound. The monastery holds relics believed to belong to St Zechariah, father of John the Baptist. Gandzasar was the residence of an Armenian catholicos from about 1400 to 1816, and is now the seat of the Archbishop of Artsakh.
==History and architecture==
The construction of Gandzasar began in 1216, under the patronage of the Armenian prince of Khachen, Hasan-Jalal Dawla, and it was completed in 1238 and consecrated on July 22, 1240.
The complex is protected by high walls. Within the complex is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Սուրբ Յովհաննու Մկրտիչ եկեղեցի in Armenian), built between 1216 and 1238.Khatcherian, Hrair (1997). Artsakh: A Photographic Journey. Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, p. 13. The drum of its dome has exquisite bas-reliefs that depict the Crucifixion, Adam and Eve, and two ministers holding a model of the church above their heads as an offering to God. The bas-reliefs have been compared to the elaborate carvings of Aghtamar,See Comneno, Lala M., Cuneo, P, and Manukian, S. Volume 19: Gharabagh. Documents of Armenian Art - Documenti di Architettura Armena Series. Polytechnique and the Armenian Academy of Sciences, Milan, OEMME Edizioni, 1980, Introduction and some art historians consider the monastery to represent one of the masterpieces of Armenian architecture. Anatoly L. Yakobson, a prominent Soviet medieval art historian, described Gandzasar as a "pearl of architectural art....This is a unique monument of medieval architecture and monumental sculpture, which by right ought to be regarded as an encyclopedia of 13th-century Armenian art." 
Gandzasar's cathedral church shares many architectural forms with the main churches of two other Armenian monasteries also built in the mid-13th century: Hovhannavank Monastery and Harichavank Monastery.Thierry, Jean-Michel and Patrick Donabedian. Les Arts Arméniens. Paris, 1987.Thierry, Jean. Eglises et Couvents du Karabagh. Antelais, Lebanon, 1991, pp. 161-165
== Gallery ==
Image:Gandzasar111.jpg|The Gandzasar monastery
Image:Gandzasar2.jpg|Closeup of cupola
Image:Gandzasar little stream of light.jpg|Interior
Image:Gandzasar ornaments.jpg|Gandzasar bas-reliefs
Image:Gandzasar ornaments 2.jpg|Armenian medieval lapidary inscriptions on Gandzasar's walls 
== See also ==
*Hovhannavank Monastery
*Harichavank Monastery
*Culture of Nagorno-Karabakh
==Notes==
==Further reading==
* Yakobson, Anatoly L. “From the History of Medieval Armenian Architecture: the Monastery of Gandzasar,” in: Studies in the History of Culture of the Peoples in the East. Moscow-Leningrad. 1960.
==External links==
*Gandzasar.com - Gandzasar Monastery, Nagorno Karabakh Republic (official site)
Category:Christian monasteries in Nagorno-Karabakh
Category:Armenian Apostolic churches
Category:Oriental Orthodox congregations established in the 13th century
Category:Christian monasteries established in the 13th century
az:Gəncəsər məbədi
de:Kloster Gandzasar
es:Monasterio de Gandzasar
eo:Monaĥejo Gandzasar
fa:صومعه گنج‌سر
fr:Gandzasar
hy:Գանձասար
pl:Gandzasar
ru:Гандзасар
simple:Gandzasar monastery
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tr:Gandzasar Manastırı
uk:Гандзасар