Saghmosavank feels uniquely spiritual: The world’s most awe-inspiring holy buildings according to FT

Financial Times (FT) editors and contributors have nominated 32 awe-inspiring holy buildings, among which is Saghmosavank. As noted, Armenia is dotted with monasteries that have more historical importance than Saghmosavank.

“Geghard, in the middle of the country, has a spring flowing through it, and visitors collect the water in bottles, believing it to be holy. Khor Virap sits in the Ararat Plain, by the Turkish border, and you can climb down into where Gregory the Illuminator, the saint who eventually made Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity in AD301, was imprisoned. But this little monastery, which sits just north of Yerevan, feels uniquely spiritual. It is perched precariously on the edge of the Kasakh gorge, which seems to split the earth in each direction for miles. It’s quiet, without many tourists. Inside, it’s cold and dark and ancient. Armenians are a people who have lost a lot of history – much of our culture and many of our monasteries have been destroyed. Saghmosavank reveals the culture’s beating heart, reminding me that it’s still palpable, and still very much alive,” FT writes.