Kanaker is one of the ancient and known villages of historical Armenia. The first written reference about Kanaker was preserved in St. Grigor church of Haghartzin in the inscription of 1206. On the western gate of the courtyard, which is near the church, it is mentioned that the son of Prince Smbat Khalt bought Skandarants land in the village of Kanaker and gifted it to the church Haghartzin for the salvation of his soul. There are different memories on the origin and the name of the village. According to one of them Kanaker was the locality of Noah’s son Kam, which was founded immediately after the Flood.
Another legend runs that in ancient times there lived a king or a prince in the eastern part of the village on the Darabas hill named Kanan. His sister was named Kanan’s sister by the natives. And after Kanan’s sister the village was named Kanakuyr or Kanaker.
There is one legend too which is told by Abovyan. According to it, the name Kanaker comes from the expression “Ka, na, kern…” A woman who was passing by saw the grieving brother near the tomb of his martyred sister and called her friend “Kha (girl), na kern vogba zkorust (he is grieving for the death of his sister)”. The first words of this expression became the name of the village later.
The memorials of the village give information about the centuries-old history of Kanaker. The oldest memorial preserved up to day is the funerary cross–stone (1265), which is called funerary monument of Petevan or All Saviour. On June 4, 1679 Kanaker was destroyed during the earthquake but the memorial stood stable and undamaged. Petevan’s memorial is considered the best sample of engraving art.
Noticeable historical memorials of Kanaker are also churches St. Hakob (built in 1695 and reconstructed in 1793) and St. Astvatzatzin (built in 1695 and reconstructed in 1795):