[1] According to tradition, the monastery was founded in the 4th century by Saint Gregory the Illuminator, after his return from Rome.

It contained a hand of John the Baptist, which was kept in a reliquary now held at the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The first historical records referring to the monastery date to the 15th century, when it was known for its scriptorium.

The monastery was most likely destroyed in an earthquake in 1648, before being rebuilt in the 18th century with funding from the people of Bagesh.

However this was not repeated during the Armenian genocide in 1915–1916, as access to the island was prevented by the Ottoman police.