 The main building of the monastic compound is Surp Astvatsatsin ( Holy Mother of God ) church . The exact date of the building of the church is unknown . It is generally regarded as an 11th @-@ 13th century complex , but the current church has been built on an earlier foundation . Kirakos Gandzaketsi mentions that Ivane Zakarian was buried in the church in 1227 . Stepanos Orbelian refers to the church in 1216 . Modern researchers date the murals within the church to 1205 – 1216 . Princess Mariam , the daughter of Gurgen II ( Kyurikeh II ) made a record in 1188 on the back of a <unk> found in a place called <unk> adjacent to Akhtala which refers to the construction of the Holy Mother of God church at Akhtala . The inscription on the <unk> states the following : " I , the daughter if Kyurikeh , Mariam , erected Surp Astvatsatsin at Pghndzahank , those who honor us remember us in their prayers . " In 1185 Mariam had constructed the narthex of the main church in Haghpat . According to some local lore , the church was built in the 7th century by Byzantine emperor of Armenian extraction , Heraclius . Another legend assumes that the church was built in the 5th century by Georgian King Vakhtang I <unk> . There is no reasonable evidence to support either story . 
