Man, this is Armenia we're talking about. Carving into rocks is a national idea here. see Geghard monastery, for example http://www.ancientpages.com/2016/03/09

Man, this is Armenia we're talking about. Carving into rocks is a national idea here. see Geghard monastery, for example http://www.ancientpages.com/2016/03/09/fascinating-geghard-monastery-rock-cut-secret-caves-passages-and-hundreds-of-monk-cells/ http://www.ancientpages.com/2016/03/09/fascinating-geghard-m... - one of the churches is just a giant boulder cut from inside. And khachkars everywhere in the country and outside (in Turkey, Azerbaijan, in a whole greater Armenenia of the past), some of them older than 1000 years.