Ktuts Monastery

Ktuts monastery is an abandoned 15th century Armenian monastery on the small island of Ktuts in Lake Van, Vaspurakan. According to tradition, the monastery was founded in the 4th century by Saint Gregory the Illuminator, after his return from Rome. It contained a hand of John the Baptist, which was kept in a reliquary now held at the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The first historical records referring to the monastery date to the 15th century, when it was known for its scriptorium. Manuscripts from this time are kept at the Matenadaran in Yerevan, Armenia. The monastery was most likely destroyed in an earthquake in 1648, before being rebuilt in the 18th century with funding from the people of Bagesh. It became one of the two seats of the diocese Lim and Ktuts.