Ktuts Monastery on Lake Van

Ktuts Monastery (Ktuts Anapat) is a 15th-century Armenian monastic complex on the small island of Ktuts (Turkish: Çarpanak) in the eastern part of Lake Van. When the water level drops, the island is joined to the shore by a long strip of land and becomes a peninsula. According to tradition, the monastery was founded by Gregory the Illuminator in the 4th century after his return from Rome.

The complex included a church, a chapel, a library and guest houses. It was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1648 and restored in the 18th century. The monastery once kept the holy right hand of John the Baptist, and manuscripts saved from its scriptorium are now in the Matenadaran in Yerevan.

The photograph shows the stone church on the lakeshore, with a small dome, a grass-covered roof and partly ruined walls.