Tsitsernavank

Occupied as a consequence of the 2020 Azeri-Turkish aggression. Status is unknown.

Tsitsernavank is situated on an elevation at the junction of the Hakari and Aghavno rivers. It was first mentioned in 844 but architectural features prove it is a basilica from the 4-6th centuries.

A village called Tsitsernavank existed near the monastery in the past. Two explanations of the name exist. One is that it was called so because of the swallows (tsitsernak) living on the rocks of the canyon where the church is built. One swallow (tsitser –swallow + vank-monastery), according to the folk story, threw itself into the pot where builders were boiling meat and saved them from the snake that had crept into the pot. Thus, the church was named as a reminder of the sacrifice. The second version is that St. Peter the Apostle’s little finger (tsitser) was kept in the monastery as a relic, and this version seems to be the prevalent one these days.