Azerbaijanis consider the monastery complex of Gandzasar Caucasian Albanian, but the reality is different

The renowned Gandzasar Monastic Complex is considered the "jewel and treasury" of 13th-century Armenian architecture. The monastery is first mentioned in the mid-10th century by the Armenian Catholicos Anania Mokatsi. Between 1216 and 1238, the Grand Prince of Khachen, Hasan-Jalal Dawla, constructed the Church of St. John the Baptist at Gandzasar, with a 27-line inscription on its northern wall. From the late 14th century until 1815, the monastery served as the seat of the Catholicosate of Gandzasar, housing a rich manuscript repository and a school. In the early 18th century, it became a center of the Artsakh liberation movement. There are about 200 Armenian inscriptions on the monastery’s walls. In September 2023, following the full occupation and deportation of Armenians from Artsakh, Gandzasar Monastery was occupied by Azerbaijan.

It is inconceivable how the Armenian monastic complex of Gandzasar could be considered a “pearl of Caucasian Albanian ecclesiastical architecture” if in the 13th century, there was no Albanian population in Artsakh or the region.

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