Kuys Varvara (the Virgin Barbara) is a revered religious figure in parts of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, and the Tsaghkavank (Flower Monastery) is a cave shrine devoted to her on the southern slopes of

Mount Ara Mount Ara (, ''Ara leř'') is a polygenetic stratovolcanic cone in Armenia's Kotayk Province. The town of Zoravan and a nearby church, Gharghavank, are located along the mountain's lower slopes. The town of Yeghvard is below the mountain. Loca ...

.Armenia: with Nagorno Karabagh by Deirdre Holding 2014 page 166 The mossy cave is reported to contain a spring, held as sacred by some believers. An altar, ferns, and candle vendors are also around the shrine. Legend holds that

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara (; ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the origin ...

was

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

ed by her cruel father for espousing Christianity. She is one of the

saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

of the

Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...

References

External links

Tour page with photos
Armenian saints Female saints {{Armenia-stub