The monastery was built on a brink of a deep gorge, in 1171, by the Kyurikid princes, a junior branch of the Bagratuni royal house of Armenia.

Kobayr was one of the famous spiritual, cultural and literary centers of Northern Armenia in the developed Middle Ages.

A bell tower in the middle of the complex was built in 1279 to house the tombs of Zakarian and his wife Vaneni.

Mural paintings, which previously likely covered all the inside walls of the monastery, now only remain in the Big Church and the Chapel/Aisle adjoining it from the north.

[6][7] Khutlubuga in particular is directly attested through an inscription and a relatively well preserved mural, reinforcing the suggestion that other close members of the dynasty were also depicted with him.