The walled city of Famagusta for a long time and to this day is not just one of the most popular tourist destinations of Cyprus, but also the cultural center of living on the island of Armenians. It is therefore not surprising that it is there, not far from the city, directly opposite the Carmelite church is an ancient Armenian monastery Ganchvor. It was built in 1346 by refugees from the territory of Cilicia.

In addition to its core functions, he also had to fulfill the role traditionally fortress to protect the residents. Unfortunately, after the conquest of the island by the Turks in 1571, he stopped working and was gradually abandoned by its inhabitants. And only in the beginning of the last century the monastery was literally a second life - it was restored and transferred into the possession of the Armenian Apostolic Church. And in 1945 it was consecrated again. However, before the civil war in Cyprus building was almost completely destroyed by the Turkish Cypriots. After the end of hostilities in 1974 Ganchvor passed into the hands of the Turkish military, and was again closed to the public. Just since 2003, the common people were allowed entrance into the monastery.

Though today it is not in the best condition, but each year it attracts thousands of pilgrims and tourists from almost all over the world.

The very construction was carried out in the standard of Armenian religious buildings style - with massive walls, narrow windows, high ceilings and almost complete lack of decorative detail, but with a noticeable influence of the Greek architectural tradition.