Saint Bartholomew Monastery ( , '' Surb Barduğimeosi vank ' '' ; Western Armenian : '' Surp Part ' uğimeosi vank ' '' ) was a medieval Armenian monastery in the historic province of Vaspurakan , 23 km north-east from the town of Başkale , in present-day Turkey 's Van Province , near the Iranian border . The monastery was built on the traditional site of martyrdom of Bartholomew the Apostle , who is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century . Along with Thaddeus the Apostle , Bartholomew is considered the patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church . It was a prominent pilgrimage site prior to the Armenian Genocide . Today , it is heavily ruined and the dome entirely gone
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Saint Bartholomew Monastery