Varzahan (Armenian:Վարզահան վանք,Turkish:Uğrak Kiliseleri orVarzahan Kiliseleri), was anArmenian church founded in the 12th century near villageUğrak (formerly Varzahan), 10 km northwest ofBayburt, in easternTurkey.
Situated in a settlement calledVarzahan inUpper Armenia province ofHistorical Armenia's northern part. Varzahan was a large Armenian settlement in a 5.7 miles northwest to theBaberd city (nowBayburt) of a northernmost district ofUpper Armenia calledSper. Most of its population was massacred by Turks during the 18th century. The monastery was damaged in the same period.
The archaeologistAustin Henry Layard has described this place in 1849 while travelling fromTrebizond toMosul. Austin Henry Layard said: ---The only place of any interest, passed during our ride, was a small Armenian village, the remains of a larger, with the ruins of three early Christian churches, or Baptisteries.---
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