Attractions

Located on a vast plateau overlooking the majestic Debed canyon, about 10 km south of the town of Alaverdi, the village of Odzun is one of the ancient settlements of the Gugark province of the historic Kingdom of Armenia. Odzun is a renowned village in Armenia for it is not only the birthplace of one of the catholicoi of the Armenian church, Hovhannes Odznetsi (John of Odzun), but also home to a unique Armenian church, the Basilica of Odzun.

The village derives its name from the Armenian word “to ordain,” “otsel.” According to Christian tradition, in the 1st century Thomas the Apostle, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, had priests ordained here, thus the name of the village. It is believed that before his departure to India, Thomas the Apostle had buried the Christ’s swaddling clothes, above which a small church was built. Later, in the 4th century, King Tiridates the Great and Gregory the Illuminator built a basilica on the site, which was gradually enlarged in the coming centuries, obtaining its present look in the 8th century, with the exception of the bell towers added in the late 19th century.

Օn the right slope of Debed canyon, յust below the village of Dsegh, lay the ruins of the 13th-century Armenian monastic complex known as the Monastery of Forty Children. Located in the area of the gorge called “Takhter,” this monastery was built in 1241-1256. According to an inscription left on the facade of the main church, it was consecrated in the year 1256 by the abbot of the Haghpat monastery.

The monastery owes its unusual name to the Forty Saints of Sebaste. According to tradition, in the 4th century, 40 young men, soldiers of the Roman army, were accused of following the Christian fate, for which they were tortured and martyred. Local lore has it that some time after the martyrdom of the 40 young men, a number of Christians who were escaping persecutions settled here on the slope of Debed canyon and built a church dedicated to the young martyrs.

According to another legend, in the 17th century, 40 children took shelter in the monastery, hiding from the invading enemy. The children were never found. Time, unfortunately, didn’t spare this complex, and very little survives from what once was a lively religious community consisting of the main church, a chapel, the dwellings, a cemetery, and other structures. A number of khachkars are found in the area, too. The ruins of the Forty Children Monastery of Dsegh are easily reached from the village center.

In the thick forests on the left slope of Marts river gorge, 2 km away from the village of Dsegh, there’s a unique treasure of Armenian medieval architecture, the Bardzrakash St. Gregory Monastery. Built in the 10th-13th centuries, this monastic complex is dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint and first Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

A major spiritual and educational center of northern Armenia in the Middle Ages, where clergymen were engaged in scientific work, the monastery now lies in ruins. Historical evidence suggests that the monastery of Bardzrakash St. Gregory did not have a long life; it is assumed that the complex was largely abandoned after the Mongol invasions of Armenia. The complex consists of two churches, of which the Cathedral of St. Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God), built in 1221, impresses with its grandeur and delicate decorations.