To the north of Lake Sevan is one of the greatest Armenian monasteries, Goshavank. Built in 1191 in the place of the Getik Church destroyed by an earthquake, the monastery became Armenia’s biggest cultural center in the 13th century due to its legendary abbot Mkhitar Gogh after whom the monastery is named now. Gosh was a fabulist, an erudite person and a legalist. He developed and wrote down his own vision of universal order, which served as a basis for the code of laws adopted in Armenia.

One of the best and most famous khachkars (cross-stones) in Armenia is in the Goshavank Monastery. It dates back to 1291 and stuns with its splendid sharp-cut shapes. Carved from monolithic tuff, from a distance it looks like lace or huge clay filigree, however a closer look reveals that every inch of its patterned surface is hewn from stone. It’s a peculiar Gordian knot from stone.