The site overlooks the Değirmendere Valley,[1] the ancient river Pyxites, along which runs the main trade route into eastern Anatolia and beyond.

A religious community was present at the site from at least the fifteenth century, and possibly as early as the eleventh.

[2] It was named Ամենափրկիչ Վանք (Amenaprgič Vank) in Armenian, which translates as "Monastery of the All-Saviour".

The Ottoman Sultan Murad III is said to have eaten a meal at the monastery consisting only of dairy products.

He confirmed the monastery's possession of its lands, and the place came to be called in Turkish Kaymaklı, meaning "with/of kaymak", in memory of the occasion.

The oldest surviving structure is a small chapel located at the eastern end of the compound.

According to an inscription above the door, it was built in 1424 by prince Hodja Stephanos Shemsedli (Khoja Stepanos Shemsedin).

South of the church are the remains of a 2-story monastic building that had a portico with stone columns on the lower floor.