According to legend, St. Jacob tried many times to climb Mount Ararat to find Noah's Ark which was buried under thick layers of ice at Parrot Glacier upon the top of the mountain. He would climb the mountain, fall asleep and wake up downhill from where he was. After repeated failed attempts, one day God said him in a dream Do not try to find the Ark anymore. I will give you a piece of a wood of what the Ark was hewn. When he woke up, to his amazement he found the wood lying nearby. He decided to build the monastery at the location that he found the wood.