Artiz is a village in the Iravan uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Ellar (Kotayk, Abovyan) district, and currently in the Kotayk province. The provincial centre lies 74 km to the southeast of the town of Ellar, at a height of 1,900 m above sea level. It was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 221 in 1873, 267 in 1886, 426 in 1897, 293 in 1904, 480 in 1914 and 466 Azerbaijanis in 1916. In 1918 the Azerbaijani inhabitants were deported having been exposed to the genocide by Armenians removed from the Van and Kars provinces of Türkiye and settled in the village 1915–1918. The surviving Azerbaijanis managed to return to their homes after Soviet power had been established in the present-day Armenian territory. Along with the Armenians, the village was inhabited by 63 Azerbaijanis in 1922, 39 in 1926, and 74 in 1931. According to the decision of the USSR Council of Ministers “On the resettlement of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenian SSR in the Kur-Araz lowland of the Azerbaijan SSR” dated 23 December 1947, the Azerbaijani inhabitants were removed to Azerbaijan in 1948–1949. At present, the village is inhabited by Armenians.

The toponym was coined from the word “artiz” used in Old Turkic in the meaning of “juniper, the bush of juniper”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 4 April 1946, the village was renamed “Geghard”. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative area of the Kotayk province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 40°09’ N., longitude: 44°47’ E.