Vahanavank is the most rewarding easy heritage stop around Kapan. The monastery complex was founded in the early medieval period and sits in a wooded, sloping setting that softens the heavy stone architecture.
It is a good contrast to Tatev and the better-known northern monasteries. Vahanavank feels more local and less performed, with churches, tombstones, and fragments of monastic space that reward a slow look rather than a quick photograph.