Kusanats Anapat, Armenian monastery in Kalbajar District, Azerbaijan.
Kusanats Anapat is an Armenian monastery located in a mountainous area of Kalbajar District. The complex comprises a main church called Surb Astvatsatsin and approximately twenty additional structures distributed across the landscape.
The monastery was founded in 1174, as documented by an inscription recording its establishment by a princess, daughter of King Kyurike. This founding links the site to Armenian royal lineage and the religious history of the region.
The name Kusanats Anapat means "Hermitage of the Virgins", while the main church is called Surb Astvatsatsin, Holy Mother of God. The complex belongs to the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Visitors can look for Armenian inscriptions on the buildings and on the khachkars in the immediate surroundings, most of which were destroyed during the 1989–1993 conflict.
The monastery stands on the right bank of the Tartar river, about 20 km northeast of the provincial centre of Shahumyan and roughly 3 km northwest of Dadivank Monastery. A second 12th–13th-century church with a vaulted roof lies on the opposite bank of the Tartar, about 400 m northwest of the main complex. The site is reached overland from the surrounding region; no facilities are recorded at the complex itself.
Two ancient khachkars, Armenian cross-stones with inscriptions, stood at the eastern church entrance until 1989. These artfully carved stones embodied the spiritual legacy of the place in physical form.
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