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Photo: Bachmann, Walter, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Ruins of a 13th century Armenian monastery, supposedly on the site of the martyrdom of Bartholomew the Apostle. (Unlucky fellow, he was also martyred in Baku.) The glyphs over its portal are especially attractive.
Saint Bartholomew Monastery was a medieval Armenian monastery in the historic province of Vaspurakan, 23 km north-east from the town of Başkale, in present-day Turkey's Van Province, near the Iranian border. The monastery was built on the traditional site of martyrdom of Bartholomew the Apostle, who is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century. Along with Thaddeus the Apostle, Bartholomew is considered the patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It was a prominent pilgrimage site prior to the Armenian genocide. Today, it is heavily ruined and the dome entirely gone.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
The church of Surp Khach or Holy Cross is the only remnant of a 10th century Armenian palace and monastery complex on Akdamar. It has faded frescoes within and impressive rock-cut reliefs on the exterior. A liturgy is held annually in early Sep before the Feast of the Cross.