"The Haghpat monastery complex overlooks the Pambak River in northern Armenia's Lori region. It was built, not on a peak, but halfway up a hillside on a site chosen to afford protection and concealment from prying eyes and also in response to a kind of monastic humility. It is built on a verdant promontory located in the middle of a mountain cirque, which is often wreathed in clouds. A peak on the opposite side of the river is over 2,500 metres high. The monasteries of northern Armenia are not isolated, unlike their counterparts in the country's arid regions. They were built in a village environment. Haghpat, for example, is surrounded by many hamlets, and Sanahin's domes rise from the centre of a village." To read the complete article click on the link above.

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