The Sanahin monastic complex is included on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.
It was founded by Armenian King Ashot III Voghormats in 966. It was a cultural center in the X-XI centuries and had a high school, and a rich library next to it. Sanahin complex consists of St. Astvatsatsin (928-944) and Amenaprkich (957-966) churches, a bookstore (1063), bell tower, academy, St. Gregory small church (10th century).
The name Sanahin literally translates from Armenian as ‘this one is older than that one, presumably representing a claim to having an older monastery than the neighboring Haghpat Monastery. The two villages and their monasteries are similar in many ways, and lie in plain view of each other on a dissected plateau formation, separated by a deep crack formed by a small river flowing into the Debed river.
