Kobayr

Kobayr Monastery or Kobayravank, a medieval Armenian monastery in the Lori region of Armenia, near the village of Kobayr, west of Kober Railway Station, on the slope of the Debed River, in an elevated and inaccessible place. It was one of the famous spiritual, cultural and literary centers of Northern Armenia in the developed Middle Ages.

The monastery was founded in 1171 by the daughter of King Kyurike II of the Kyurikian branch of the Bagratuni dynasty. The expansion of the monastery complex of Kobayr starts from the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century, when the monastery passed from the Kyurikians to the Zakaryans. At that time the main church, chapel-vestibule, the open hall to the west, the altar-house, the bell-tower, the chapels, and the brickworks were built. All of them are in ruins today.

It was one of the most important Armenian medieval schools and cultural centers of the Middle Ages, with which the work of the remarkable 12th century bibliographer David Kobayretsi relates. At the beginning of the 13th century it became a Chalcedonian.