Once upon a time, on the moun­tain where the Gandza­sar monastery stands, there were sil­ver mines, since “ganz” in trans­la­tion from Armen­ian means “trea­sure”, and sar means “moun­tain”. The monastery was sup­pos­ed­ly found­ed in the 10th cen­tu­ry, and the tem­ple that now exists here was built by Prince Hasan-Jalal Dola. Lat­er, the monastery acquired sev­er­al cells, a library, a refec­to­ry and a the­o­log­i­cal sem­i­nary. Monas­tic life in the monastery con­tin­ues today, and Gandza­sar itself has long become famous thanks to the three-star Gandza­sar cognac pro­duced here.