Arakelots Monastery was an Armenian monastery in the historic province of Taron, 11 km south-east of Mush (Muş), in present-day eastern Turkey. According to tradition, Gregory the Illuminator founded the monastery to house relics of several apostles. The monastery was, however, most likely built in the 11th century. During the 12th-13th centuries it was a major center of learning. In the following centuries it was expanded, destroyed and renovated. It remained one of the prominent monasteries of Turkish (Western) Armenia until the Armenian genocide of 1915, when it was attacked and subsequently abandoned. It remained standing until the 1960s when it was reportedly blown up. Today, ruins of the monastery are still visible.
The monastery in the early 20th century. Photo by Vartan A. Hampikian, published in New York in 1923
The Mush Homiliarium
Image: Arakelots 12
Muş is a city in eastern Turkey. It is the seat of Muş Province and Muş District. Its population is 120,699 (2022). Almost all of its population consists of Kurds.
Muş
A Urartian Bulanık Stele, Bitlis Ahlat Museum
4th-century Arakelots Monastery before its destruction during the Armenian Genocide.
Russian soldiers uncover the evidence of a massacre in the former Armenian village of Sheykhalan, 1916
