The rupestrian churches in the monastery of Geghard, Armenia

The monastery of Geghard is of particular importance, as it is the only consecrated monument in Armenia to be half built and half carved into the rock. Probably founded in the first centuries its maximum expansion had in the thirteenth century, and from that moment it is as if it had almost crystallized in its ancient appearance. In the year 2000 UNESCO included it in the World Heritage sites. This multidisciplinary research group saw its great potential and took it as a case study, starting from digital surveying, in parallel with the historical-artistic investigation. In this paper we want to expose the first elaborations and the first observations arising from the recent survey campaign, the first cognitive stage prior to the subsequent ‘in-depth’ processing of the data.