KETCHARIS MONASTERY

Lost in the greenery on the first heights of the village, almost incongruous and anachronistic among the winter sports establishments, the monastery is composed of the church of Saint Gregory (Sourp Grigor), the oldest, of its narthex, or gavit, adjoined in 1200 during the reign of the Zakarid princes, of the Kathoghike church, to the right of this harmonious ensemble, completed by a chapel, a scale model of the other churches. The monastery, which has been completely restored, is interesting because of the perfect alignment of the buildings built to the right of the Church of St. Gregory, from the 11th to the 13th century, whose chevets, decorated with bas-reliefs and flanked by a row of beautiful khatchkar, are to be admired. One of them, standing on a pedestal, bears the inscription: "Remember in your prayers the servant of God, the stonemason Vechik, who built this new church and ended his life when it was completed. Legend has it that the monastery was built by order of a prince, out of love for his daughter, to whom he gave a garden with flowers so beautiful that only she wanted to enjoy them. But the wind came and spread the flowers and their fragrance all over the valley. Angry, the overly possessive princess begged her father to bring the flowers back to her garden. So the old lord built a monastery, whose monks had to pray day and night for the return of the flowers. Fortunately, their prayers were not answered and the valley has kept its carpet of flowers to which it owes its name.