Surb Tovma Arakeal church (converted to mosque) (Verin Agulis / Upper Aylis)

 church, mosque, destroyed, Armenian Apostolic church, 9th century construction

Armenian monastery of Surb Tovma Arakeal. After the Armenian massacres in Azerbaijan (1987-1992) destroyed by Azeris and rebuilt as a mosque. According to tradition, St. Thomas Monastery was founded by St. Bartholomew the Apostle in the 1st century, and his pupil, Kums (hy), was appointed its priest. It was probably a small chapel-like building that was rebuilt and expanded after the conversion of Armenia to Christianity. It was the centre of Goghtn parish, from the early Middle Ages to 1838. In the monastery there were some relics: right hand of Thomas the Apostle donated by Catholicos Yeprem I in 1821, relic of St. Gayané (fr) and right hand of Hakop Hayrapet. The monastery had a cemetery belonging to the 13th to 19th centuries. It was located about 250 m northeast of the complex. St. Thomas Monastery consisted of a temple, bell towers, a wall and auxiliary buildings. The church of the monastery was probably damaged by the earthquake of 1679 and in 1694 a completely new church was built, with polished basalt, reddish felsite, a seven-sided tabernacle on the inside and a dome-shaped basilica with four crosses. n 1918, Turkish troops destroyed Agulis, massacred the Armenian population and looted the monastery, which was later abandoned and deserted. Currently a mosque is built on the site of the monastery.