Okht Yeghtsi Monastery :: ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Okht Yeghtsi Monastery

Azerbaijan / Northern Artsakh / Dashkesan / Shahumyan

Location

The site of Okhte Yeghtsy represents seven churches “built” into a rock called Ughti Kar (the Armenian equivalent for 'Camel Stone') and located 2.5 kilometres north-west of the village, 3.5 kilometres south-east of Charek Castle.

The Armenian equivalent for ‘Seven Churches.’ Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 215.

Historical Introduction
13 c․

In the late ‘20s of the 13th century, Aghvank Catholicos Hovhannes (1195 to 1235) found haven in some caverns in the vicinity of Charek Castle to escape enemy persecution. Some records state the following with this regard, “…in a cave near a fort called Charek…” “…He moved the Patriarchal Throne to the neighbourhood of Charek…”

History of Armenia by Kirakos Gandzaketsy. Prepared for publication by Melik-Ohanjanian K. Yerevan, 1961, p. 178, 182.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 215.

Most probably, it was during that period that a number of rock-cut and semi-rock-cut chapels and churches were erected there: “…seven caves, surrounded by thick forests, can be seen in a rock whose open parts are hidden behind a wall of mortar. Two of them represent churches with their altar stones still preserved. A road extending in front of the rock leads to these caves…”

Barkhutariants, M. Artsakh. Baku, 1895, p. 301.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 215.

Name	Year/Century	Etymology
Ughti Yeghtsi		The distorted pronunciation of 'Okht Yeghtsi', which is the equivalent of 'Seven Churches' in the Karabakh dialect.