Church of the Holy Mother of God, Ayrk
The Church of the Holy Mother of God at Ayrk was accompanied by a thirteenth-century gavit, now ruined. A gavit was the vestibule where members of the community could gather before entering the main worship space.
The surrounding cemetery spans the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries. On the north side, a cross-stone dated 1505 stands on a low pedestal. East of the church, one of the khachkars dated 1529 commemorates Amirkul, Ghrlin and Kulstan.
Another cross-stone, dated 1530, names the priest Barsegh and Melik. Amir’s khachkar of 1550 stands west of the church. These stones preserve the names and commemorative practices of the community some two and a half centuries after the church was built in 1281.