Like the church of the Holy Mother of God (n° 13), this little monastery, dedicated to the Persian martyr Yiztpuzit (or Hizd(i)puzd), is located in T‘ughkh [Çağlayan], at the mouth of the Aznwatzor Valley [Güzel Dere]. It lies on a rise south of the village, at 38° 28’N and 42° 18’E, on the right bank of the river of the same name.
The dedication to Saint Yiztpuzit is associated with the village of T‘ughkh in a text from 1492, but we do not know whether it refers to the church (n° 13) or to the monastery. In all likelihood the monastery was built to receive the relics of the saint, and can, in all events, be dated to either the 15th century or before. The discontinuity of certain of the interior architectural elements argues for a reconstruction on the preserved foundations of an earlier building. The inscription, incised on the west façade on the occasion of a restoration by the monk Mesrob in 1708 but today invisible, fully confirms this hypothesis. By the 19th century, the monastery was no longer active, and its properties had been divided among the local peasants.
Reste de la façade est et mur nord, 2012 (Coll. P. Maguesyan).
The monastery of Saint Yiztpuzit included: the church of the saint, a cross in square measuring 8 × 7m, with an apse flanked by two lateral two-story chambers and a cupola without a drum; a walled courtyard; and outside the walls, a partially ruined chapel.
Plan (Thierry, 1989, p.233)
The monastery was confiscated after the Great War and left empty. In the 1970s, the courtyard wall and the outer chapel had disappeared; the church was still standing, although the roof had been damaged and already had holes in the northeast and southeast corners. Much of the monument has since collapsed, and today the whole monastery lies in ruins.
Oskian, 1940-1947, III [1947], 938-939. Thierry, 1989, 232-234.