Kayanaberd fortress is located in the Lorri region, 2 km west of Haghpat. The fortress occupies a promontory rising at the confluence of the Haghpat River and Zhivank stream. The gorges create a natural barrier around it, and its connection to Haghpat was provided by a road through the Sherek gorge and a 13th-century stone bridge.
An inscription in the Church of the Holy Mother of God within the fortress dates the construction to 1233. The abbot of Haghpat, Bishop John, notes that after the invasions of the Khwarezmi forces, there was no safe refuge for the relic of the Holy Sign of the monastery and its monks. With the consent of Ivane Zakarian, his son Avag, and Shahnshah, the son of Zakare, he built the fortress and the church, granting them to the Haghpat Monastery.
According to the research of historian Rafael Matevosyan, Kayani Fortress, mentioned in sources of the 10th–13th centuries and built by the Kiurikian dynasty, is often identified with Kayana-berd near Haghpat. However, it is most likely the Maiden's Castle. Therefore, these early historical references cannot be attributed to the fortress near Haghpat. The latter was named Kayani later.
The fortress is 120 metres long, and its width does not exceed 20 metres. The walls were reinforced with more than fifteen rounded towers. The area was divided into southern and northern sections, which were separated by an internal wall and communicated by a covered gate. The main entrance was on the south side, with a second on the west. Inside, traces of buildings, cisterns and terracotta water pipes have been preserved. Water was brought to the fortress from mountain springs south of Akn.
On the fortress side is the Church of the Holy Mother of God, also known as Dsevanq. It is a rectangular, domed structure from the outside, but cross-shaped inside. The lintel of the western entrance is composed of three stones, the central one of which has a cross-shaped cut. The church was severely damaged by the earthquakes of 1668 and 1827, and the dome also collapsed in 1827.
