If you go from Vanadzor to Alaverdi, in the middle of the way in the mountains, you can see a beautiful ancient monastery complex Sanahin, a place, cherished by the Armenians for several centuries.

It used to be a lively place, almost a town, not just a monastery. Not only monks, but ordinary people used to live there. They were working in the House of writing, lyceum, the mausoleum of the ancestors of the Zakaryans, they were craftsmen and ordinary residents who wanted to live closer to churches not just because it was safer, but also because in that place their children had a chance to be educated.

The church of Saint Saviour was the first building in the complex Sanahin. King Ashot constructed it in the 10th century. Its most important value is the frescos some of which have remained there until now.

In 979, the House of writing appeared in the complex. Children of any social class could go there to learn how to read and write and get minimal education. That parishioner school had been growing until it became one of the first Armenian universities, where distinguished scientists and scholars of the past used to teach.

The most gorgeous building of the complex was undoubtedly the bell tower, erected in the 13th century. The austere 3-story building in the classical style used to have three bells. Unfortunately, during the Second World War they were stolen and melted down for making bullets, so none of them has survived until today.

The most valuable item of the monastery used to be the oldest and the richest Armenian library. The building reminded a chapel. All the book covers were decorated with gold and silver, and the biggest book weighed almost 500 kilos. Now only 35 books have remained from that splendid collection, but all of them date back to the 12th – 13th centuries.