The Tatev Monastery is a 9th-century Armenian Apostolic Christian monastery located on a large basalt plateau near the village of Tatev in the Syunik Province. The term "Tatev" usually refers to the monastery. The monastic ensemble stands on the edge of a deep gorge of the Vorotan River. Tatev is known as the bishopric seat of Syunik and played a significant role in the history of the region as a center of economic, political, spiritual and cultural activity.
The Tatev plateau has been in use since pre-Christian times, hosting a pagan temple. The temple was replaced with a modest church following the Christianization of Armenia in the 4th century. Development of the Tatev Monastery began in the 9th century when it became the seat of the bishop of Syunik.
In the beginning of the 11th century, Tatev hosted around 1,000 monks and a large number of artisans. In 1044, armed forces of neighbouring emirates destroyed the St. Gregory Church and its surrounding buildings, which were reconstructed soon after that. During Timur lane's campaigns into Syunik (1381–1387), Tatev was looted, burnt, and dispossessed of a significant portion of its territories. The monastery was reborn in the 17th and 18th centuries; its structures restored and new ones were added.
The monastery was seriously damaged after an earthquake in 1931, the dome of the Sts. Paul and Peter church and the bell tower were destroyed. In the latter years the Sts. Paul and Peter church was reconstructed, but the bell tower remains destroyed up to today.
About the cache: we placed it during our holiday trip in Armenia in a place we really liked and there was no other cache far away. In order to meet the cache approval requirements, we have arranged with a local Armenian cacher named "Vahagn" to handle the cache if necessary.