Geghard is one of the most extraordinary monasteries in the world, and not only for its age. While the outer church and gavit (antechamber) are conventional stone construction from the thirteenth century, the inner complex is carved directly from the cliff face of the Azat River Gorge — chambers, chapels, and a baptistry hewn from living rock, their walls covered with intricate relief carvings of animals, pomegranates, and Armenian script.
The monastery was originally called Ayrivank, the Monastery of the Caves, a name that better captures its essential character. Its current name was adopted when the Holy Lance was brought here. The complex was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, together with the nearby Garni temple.
Enter through the main gavit — a cavernous antechamber lit by a single oculus in the vaulted ceiling — and let your eyes adjust before pressing on. The Avazan, or baptistry cave, dates from 1240 and contains a natural spring; the water still runs. Further in, the Proshian gavit (1215) is covered floor to ceiling with relief carvings commissioned by the noble Proshian family, including a famous panel of an eagle clutching a lamb. On Sundays you may encounter the ancient practice of animal sacrifice in the courtyard outside — a custom that pre-dates Christianity but was absorbed into local religious life rather than abolished.