Vorotnavank

Vorotnavank is a monastic complex spread along a rocky ridge overlooking the Vorotan gorge, between the villages of Vaghatin and Vorotan. Its principal churches, Surb Stepanos and Surb Karapet, date from around the late 10th to the 11th century and are associated with the patronage of Queen Shahandukht of Syunik. Surrounded by a high defensive stone wall, the monastery once held workshops, stores, a seminary and an alms-house, functioning as both a spiritual and a fortified refuge. The dramatic canyon setting, with strangely rounded rock formations all around, lends the site a powerful, almost otherworldly atmosphere, and it remains beautifully preserved and rewarding to visit.