Noravank

A thirteenth-century Armenian monastery set in a narrow gorge of intensely red and orange sandstone cliffs in the Vayots Dzor province. The Surb Astvatsatsin church within the complex is notable for its narrow external staircase leading directly to an upper-floor gavit, a design feature rarely found elsewhere in Armenian ecclesiastical architecture. The chromatic contrast between the pale stone of the churches and the red canyon walls makes the site particularly striking in afternoon light when the canyon face is fully illuminated.