Laid in 1216 by the prince of Khachen, Hasan Jalal Vahtangian, Gandzasar Monastery stands atop of the mount with the same name, actually a large green hill that rises above the historical town of Vank, in de facto Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (de jure: Kalbajar Rayon of Azerbaijan). Named so (Gandzasar means in Armenian "treasure mountain") due to ancient copper and silver mines found in the vicinity, it is now the seat of the Archbishop of Artsakh appointed by the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and holds relics believed to belong to St. John the Baptist and his father St Zechariah. It is a walled abbey with both ecclesiastical and non-ecclesiastical buildings, the centerpiece of which is the Cathedral of St. Hovhannes Mkrtich (St. John the Baptist), a large church with a cupola in the inscribed cross plan.
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