Children at the Rind Rock-Cut Church

• peaksam November 24, 2024October 4, 2026

On November 24, 2024, we were in the endlessly fascinating south of Armenia, 4 km north of the village of Rind. It is here, on the slopes of Mount Gomadrunk at an altitude of 1,800 m, that the rock-cut church of Rind is located. The date of the church’s construction is unknown, but it is presumed to have been built in the early Middle Ages. Unfortunately, it is unknown to the scientific community. The church is carved into the rock and located at a hard-to-reach height. The first impression is that the name Rind is not Armenian, but in Armenian the word “rind” (rint, ərint) has the meanings “beautiful”, “attractive” and “worthy of pride”.

The weather was comfortable for walking, and we managed to cover the trail leading to the rock-cut church quite easily. We went up by the first trail and came back by the second. Below the second trail there is a large stone that used to be a water mill for the local residents. In its lower part it has a narrow entrance (or exit), which widens inside the stone into a large space, whose upper part looks like a cauldron. It was very interesting for the children to study this stone from inside and outside.

This time we covered 340 m of total elevation gain and walked 9 km.