Odzun (Օձուն) is a village on a dissected plateau above the Debed gorge, just above Alaverdi. Unlike Sanahin and Haghpat, it sits on the left bank of the gorge.
While tourist crowds visiting those two monasteries largely bypass it, the Odzun Church — an 8th-century basilica built on the foundations of a 6th-century church — is one of the finest in Armenia and well worth a visit. It was built as a tribute to the Supreme Katholikos Hovhannes Odzunetsi (John of Odzun), who was born in the village.
The southern side has preserved an arcaded cloister, and the western side has a blind wall with an entrance. Just north of the church stands an unusual funerary monument — two carved stone stelae rising from a shared platform, one of only two of their kind in Armenia; the other is in the southern village of Aghudi.
There is no entry fee as such: visitors are expected to buy and light a candle. If the church is locked, the caretaker may be tending the grass around it (no simple task given the many clergy gravestones) or, if you are unlucky, absent.
Without your own transport, you can negotiate a ride with a local or walk from Alaverdi — taking shortcuts through the gorge makes for a pleasant hillside trek when it is not too hot. From the bus station head south along the main road toward Vanadzor, then near the southern edge of town (close to the rail tracks) turn right and go uphill until you reach the village after a couple of bends.