Saint Bartholomew Monastery

Saint Bartholomew Monastery (Armenian: Սուրբ Բարդուղիմեոսի վանք, Surb Barduğimeosi vank' ; Western Armenian: Surp Part'uğimeosi vank' ) 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.