Vanadzor is the third largest city and is the regional centre of Lori region, a northern Armenian region. It has a population of more than 100.000 people.Vanadzor was previously called Kirovakan, Mets Gharakilisa. Tbilisi-Gyumri railway, some other highways pass through Vanadzor.
Sanahin Monastery is an Armenian monastery founded in the 10th century in the Lori Province of Armenia. The name Sanahin literally translates from Armenian as "this one is older than that one", presumably representing a claim to having an older monastery than the neighbouring Haghpat Monastery. The two villages and their monasteries are similar in many ways, and lie in plain view of each other on a dissected plateau formation, separated by a deep "crack" formed by a small river flowing into the Debed river.
Haghpat Monastery, also known as Haghpatavank, is a medieval Armenian monastery complex in Haghpat, Armenia. Described as a "masterpiece of religious architecture and a major center of learning in the Middle Ages", this venerable institution of the Armenian Apostolic Church was placed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1996. The monastery was founded by Saint Nishan (Sourb Nshan) in the 10th century during the reign of King Abas I. The nearby monastery at Sanahin was built around the same time.
The monasteries at Haghpat and Sanahin were chosen as UNESCO World Heritage Sites because:
The two monastic complexes represent the highest flowering of Armenian religious architecture, whose unique style developed from a blending of elements of Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture and the traditional vernacular architecture of the Caucasian region.
The monastery has been damaged many times. Sometime around 1130, an earthquake destroyed parts of Haghpat Monastery and it was not restored until fifty years later. It also suffered numerous attacks by armed forces in the many centuries of its existence and from a major earthquake in 1988. Nevertheless, much of the complex is still intact and stands today without substantial alterations.