Ktuts monastery
Van Province, Turkey
Freely accessible
Public space — no opening hours to check.
Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.
Find out more
Ktuts monastery, named for the Armenian word meaning "beak," stands in ruins on a small island in Lake Van in present-day Turkey. Though tradition attributes its foundation to the 4th century by Saint Gregory the Illuminator, historical documentation dates to the 15th century, when the monastery was renowned for its scriptorium and the production of manuscripts now preserved in the Matenadaran in Yerevan. The complex was devastated in an earthquake in 1648 and subsequently rebuilt in the 18th century with support from the people of Bagesh, eventually becoming one of two diocesan seats. The monastery housed a relic—a hand of John the Baptist—kept in a reliquary now at the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It sheltered refugees during the Hamidian massacres of 1894–1896, but was abandoned following the Armenian Genocide beginning in 1915, when Ottoman authorities prevented access to the island. Today only the church and its gavit survive of this Armenian architectural monument.
Movement
- Built
- Type
- monastery, ruins, historic site
- Place
- Van Province, Turkey
This building on
Architecturally similar
Arates monasteryVayots Dzor Province, Armenia
Arakelots MonasteryMuş, Turkey
Khtzkonk MonasteryKars Province, Turkey
Makenyats VankMakenis, Armenia
Monastery of the MiraclesAdilcevaz, Turkey
Neghuts MonasteryArzakan, Armenia
Location