Apranits Surb David monastery

 church, Armenian Apostolic church

The extensive ruins of the monastery of Aprank stand near the summit of a hill, about 15 kilometres to the south-west of the small town of Tercan (formerly called Mamahatun), roughly midway between Erzincan and Erzurum. During the nineteenth century it was called the Monastery of Saint David.

Aprank - the name by which the monastery is now known locally - is derived from aparank, the Armenian word for palace. Before 1915 Aprank was also the name of a large village in the valley below the monastery. It had about 50 Armenian households and a church. Aprank village is now called Üçpınar and is inhabited by Kurds.

The early history of the monastery is unknown, but during the nineteenth century it was the episcopal centre of the Tercan district (which contained 34 Armenian villages) and most of the surviving buildings seem to date from that century. The monastery was probably abandoned during 1915, certainly abandoned by 1917.

www.virtualani.org/aprank/index.htm