Ishkhanavank Monastery, Vardenik
Ishkhanavank stands in the eastern part of Vardenik. The state inventory dates the church to the thirteenth century. One sacristy survives from what was once a large church. This room beside the sanctuary was used to keep objects needed for worship.
Historical names for the foundation include Snchits Anapat, or Hermitage of Snchits, and Saint Minas. A document dated 1669 records the latter dedication. In the Middle Ages the monastery paid dues to Makenyats Monastery. The name Ishkhanats Vank, meaning Monastery of the Princes, is associated with the grave of Prince Mirza in the churchyard.
The cemetery extends north of the church. Its earliest recorded cross-stones date to the ninth century, and its funerary monuments span the period up to the twentieth. Burial and commemoration on this riverbank thus began centuries before the surviving church was built.