Kecharis Monastery

Tsaghkadzor, Armenia

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

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Kecharis Monastery is a medieval Armenian monastic complex located in Tsaghkadzor, 60 kilometers from Yerevan, that dates to the 11th through 13th centuries. Founded by a Pahlavuni prince in 1001 in the Pambak mountains within the historic Ayrarat region, the monastery grew into a major religious center and seat of higher learning during the 12th and 13th centuries under the patronage of the Proshian family. The two main churches suffered severe dome damage in the 1927 earthquake; after conservation work during the Soviet period and reconstruction beginning in the 1980s (interrupted by the 1988 earthquake and subsequent geopolitical upheaval), the complex was fully restored between 1998 and 2000 with funding from Vienna-based donor Vladimir Harutyunian. Today, the fully restored monastery stands prominently in the Pambak landscape, visible from the nearby ski resort slopes.