Surb Karapet Monastery of Mush (Armenian: Մշո Սուրբ Կարապետ վանք, Msho Surb Karapet vank,[A] also known by other names) was an Armenian Apostolic monastery in the historic province of Taron, about 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Mush (Muş), in present-day eastern Turkey.

Surb Karapet translates to "Holy Precursor" and refers to John the Baptist, whose remains are believed to have been stored at the site by Gregory the Illuminator in the early fourth century.

The monastery subsequently served as a stronghold of the Mamikonians—the princely house of Taron, who claimed to be the holy warriors of John the Baptist, their patron saint.

[15] According to Armenian tradition, the site was founded in the early fourth century by Gregory the Illuminator, who went to Taron to spread Christianity following the conversion of King Tiridates III of Armenia.

[18][12][19] They were presumably razed to the ground by Gregory, who erected a martyrion[20][D] to house the remains of Saints Athenogenes and John the Baptist[22][23] which he had brought from Caesarea.

Folk belief held that devs (demons) were kept underneath the monastery; they would be released during the Second Coming by John the Baptist (Surb Karapet).

[12] Hrachia Acharian suggested that Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet, may have studied at the monastery in the late fourth century.

[27] In the sixth century, the chronicler Atanas Taronatsi (Athanas of Taron), best remembered for collocation of the Armenian calendar, served as its father superior.

[22] According to the 17th-century traveler Evliya Çelebi the leadership of the monastery made large gifts to Turkish pashas in order to secure the monastic properties.

In 1788 the monastic complex underwent complete reconstruction—its gavit (narthex) was enlarged, and renovation was carried out in its belfry, the monks' cells, scriptorium, ramparts and other sections.

Before his reforms, most of the money went to the monks and affluent Armenians of the region who offered fierce opposition to him, including two attempts on his life.

From April 1, 1863 until June 1, 1865 Khrimian published the journal The Eaglet of Taron[42] (Artzvik Tarono, «Արծւիկ Տարօնոյ») at the monastery.

The estate was covered by forests, arable fields and had three farms with around a thousand goats and sheep, a hundred oxen and cattle, sixty horses, twenty donkeys and four mules, which were taken care of by 156 servants.

[48] According to the American missionaries Clarence Ussher and Grace Knapp, the Turks slaughtered "three thousand men, women, and children" gathered at the courtyard of the monastery on command of a German officer.

[56] In May 2015 Aziz Dağcı, the President of the NGO "Union of Social Solidarity and Culture for Bitlis, Batman, Van, Mush and Sasun Armenians", made a formal appeal to the Turkish Ministries of Culture and Interior requesting the reconstruction of the monastery and the removal of all 48 houses and 6 barns on its former location.

Dagcı stated that according to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne the Turkish government obliged to preserve the religious institutions and structures of ethno-religious minorities, including those of the Armenian community.

[61][62][63] In August 2013 an Armenian-style silver cross attributed by the seller to the Surb Karapet Monastery appeared on the Russian auction website Bay.ru and was valued at $70,000.

"[65] Art historian Levon Chookaszian noted the seller did not provide much information and added that "All we can see is that it is delicate silver work and nothing else is known [about it].

[67] Lynch, who visited it in 1893, described the monastery as follows: "A walled enclosure, like that of a fortress, a massive door on grating hinges—such is your first impression of this lonely fane.

[...] You enter a spacious court, and face a handsome belfry and porch, the façade inlaid with slabs of white marble with bas-reliefs.

"[68] A decade earlier, English traveler Henry Fanshawe Tozer wrote of the monastery: "The buildings ... are of stone, very massive and very irregular, rising one above another at various angles.

Various secular events took place in the surroundings, such as horse races, tightrope walking and gusan competitions during the festivals of Vardavar[81][82][83] and Assumption of Mary.

[93] The floor mosaic, created by the 20th-century Israeli artist Hava Yofe, inside the Chapel of Saint Helena at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre depicts the monastery along with other major Armenian sites.

"[96] In the historical novel The Call of Plowmen («Ռանչպարների կանչը», published in 1979), Khachik Dashtents describes a winter scene at the monastery.

[97] In October 2010, during the discussion of a bill in the Armenian Parliament that would formally recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh), opposition MP Raffi Hovannisian ended his speech saying "Let us be guided by Msho Sultan Surb Karapet".