Gndevank is located in Vayots Dzor province, southwest of the village of Gndevaz, in a deep gorge on the left bank of the Arpa river, on a sloping platform surrounded by cliffs.
The main source on the monastery's founding is the 13th-century historian Stepanos Orbelian. According to him, Gndevank was built by Princess Sofia, wife of Smbat, the reigning prince of Syunik, in 936. In the inscription on the monastery's western wall, Sofia writes: "Vayots Dzor was a ring without a stone; I built this and set a stone upon it."
Gndevank's main church, Surb Stepanos, was built in 931–936. On the exterior it is a cross-shaped, centrally-domed, four-apse church, with two side chambers on the east side. The structure is built of well-dressed basalt. On the outer walls of the cross-arms, triangular niches characteristic of Armenian architecture are used, which lighten the mass of the walls and also carry decorative significance.
Adjoining the Surb Stepanos church, Abbot Kristapor built the gavit. In the 13th–14th centuries the monastery continued to function and expand. Surviving inscriptions attest to renovations carried out in 1309. Later, in the 17th century — especially in 1691 — on the initiative of Abbot Petros Vardapet, the church and gavit were renovated, walls with towers were built, along with residential and economic structures.
Inside the church, remains of murals have survived.
In 1968–1971, restoration and site-improvement work was carried out on the complex.
