Tsaghkevank is located in the Aragatsotn Province, on the southern slope of Mount Ara. It is a rock-cut chapel situated inside a natural cave. The chapel is also known as the Chapel of the Virgin Barbara (St. Varvara). In Armenian folk Christian tradition, St. Barbara is regarded as a martyred virgin, whose intercession people have turned to especially in times of illness, misfortune, and hardship. The pilgrimage tradition preserved at Tsaghkevank is tied precisely to this saint's name.
According to tradition, Barbara refused to marry a pagan, for which reason her father decided to kill his daughter.
People visit here especially on the feast day of St. Barbara, which in the Armenian Apostolic Church is a movable date, observed on the Tuesday following the 4th or 5th Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross (Khachverats).
In the vicinity of Tsaghkevank, khachkars from the 10th–11th and 13th–17th centuries have been preserved, along with a cemetery.
