With its warm pink stone, the church in Yeghvard is rather cute. It is highly decorated externally, especially with carved animals (lion, ibex, leopard, eagle…) and has a 16 column belfry. It is dedicated to the Mother of God and stands in the middle of the village, which is rather unusual for such an old Armenian church (built 1301). The locals told us the church previously had a gavit which was destroyed during Soviet times, though I couldn't find the story elsewhere. We were there on the first day of the school year, and as is customary, students in their best clothes came to burn candles, praying for good results throughout the year.