NOTES: ARMAVIR ARMAVIRB REGION MAP HHH a traveler’s reference guide ® excavations of some of the country’s most famous Highlights cities, from each period of the country’s history. ARMAVIR marz B INTRODUCTION Area: 1251 sq. km ²ðزìÆðÙ³ñ½ It is for its Christian history that the marz is most Population: 160300 • Visit Vagharshapat, the Seat of the famous for locals and Diaspora Armenians, who Marz capital: Armavir Catholicos and center of the Armenian make pilgrimages to Armenia as much to worship ByB RickH Ney Distance from Yerevan: 48 km Apostolic Church (p. 17) at the ca. 303 cathedral of Echmiadzin as to visit MapsB by RafaelH Torossian Marzpetaran: Tel: (237) 63 716 • Explore Metsamor, the birthplace of their homeland. And its Christian history is as Edited by BellaH Karapetian Largest City: Vagharshapat (Echmiadzin) brozne, and its 2800 BCE astral dramatic as its ritual, borrowing from Pagan rites observatory (p. 55) and beliefs that continue to thrive in their Christian TABLEB OF CONTENTS Armavir is Armenia’s Cradle of Civilization; home to some of the oldest cities in the Near East, the context. H • Attend Sunday service (or Feast Day) at INTRODUCTION (p. 3) world’s oldest known forging of bronze, and its first Echmiadzin cathedral; listen to its NATUREH (p. 3) Armavir is featured in Armenia’s Freedom Struggle Christian state. Both are just a few miles from spectacular choir (p. 29) DOH (p. 6) after WWI, and is home of the battle that insured each other, and taken together they explore a WHEN?H (p. 7) the country’s independence, at Sardarapat. A region that is among the oldest and most diverse • Take the Cradle of Civilization Tour, HISTORYH (p. 8) in the world. with excavations of settlements dating to bountiful land with hospitable people and amazing sites, Armavir is a must see on any tourist PEOPLEH (p. 13) 9000 BCE (p. 53) itinerary. INH AND OUT (p. 13) • Visit the World Heritage Sites of OVERNIGHTH / EAT (p. 14) Zvartnots Cathedral (p. 48), S. Hripsimeh B HHH H NATURE DESTINATIONS (p. 14) (p. 38) and Guyaneh (p. 35) Armavir is the north end of the Ararat valley, NATURE,H ADVENTURE TOURING (p. 15) • Explore Argishtikhinili, the Urartian which lies between the Shirak Plateau, Mt. capital of Armavir marz (p. 57) Aragats, the Geghama Lehr and Mt. Ararat in ECHMIADZINH (p. 17) present day Turkey. - BackgroundH (p. 17) • Visit Armavir, the Bronze Age-Orontid - NavigatingH the City (p. 20) capital, one of 3 of Armenia’s ancient - CityH Sights (p. 20) capitals in Armavir (p. 56) - EchmiadzinH Complex (p. 24) • Be sure to see Sardarapat Battlefield, - SH Guyaneh (p. 35) where Armenia won its independence - S.H Hripsimeh (p. 38) in 1918. Take time for the excellent - OtherH (p. 41) ethno-museum in the same complex - PracticalitiesH (p. 38) (p. 57) ZVARTNOTSH (p. 48) • Visit the small and impressive Khoren As you travel Armavir, you travel through the Ter Harutian sculpture museum (p. EXPLORINGH THE REGION (p. 52) country’s heartland; a farming area that produces 22) TRIPH 1: NORTHEAST ARMAVIR (p. 52) the lion’s share of the country’s vegetables, TRIPH 2: CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION (p. 66) especially its succulent tomatoes and crunchy • Explore the Vordan Karmir Preserve, cucumbers, the “bread and butter” on every - ArmavirH (p. 75) the last native habitat for the source Armenian dining table. Among the staggering of medieval Armenia’s gorgeous red TRIPH 3: SOUTH ARMAVIR (p. 85) number and varieties of crops, the marz produces ink; more prized than gold in the TRIPH 4: WEST ARMAVIR (p. 88) several varietals of wine-producing grapes, courts of Europe (p. 86) considered by connoisseurs among the best semi- Armavir has a diverse ecosystem, encompassing RESOURCESH (p. 92) sweet producers in the country. • Bird watch at the marshlands around desert and semi-desert landscape in its western MAPS Metsamor excavation (p. 69) and in district, which fertile soil springs to life each spring ArmavirH Marz Map (p. 2) Its history may be the oldest in the country. Set the Karmir Vordan Preserve (p. 86) and when irrigated, large areas of salt and EchmiadzinH Map (p. 44) on one of the Stone Age “super highways” of freshwater marshlands, small spring-fed lakes in • Explore the Western Desert, with the settlement, the Arax River, the marz opens to H the valley floor and small stands of woods in Echmiadzin Complex (p. 24) ancient Armenian capitals at Bagaran Western Armenia and Anatolia to the west; to riverbeds and isolated locations. ArmavirH City Map (p. 75) (p. 89) and Yervandashat (p. 90) Shirak and the Black Sea corridor to the north; to the Hrazdan River corridor and the Caspian region Note about pronunciation: I transcribe words into English • Visit the Hovhannes Hovhannessian Even the marz western desert blooms each spring using local dialect, substituting “i” for “y” (Sarigiugh to the NE; and to the lower Ararat valley, Persia House Museum (p. 21) and Mher for a few short weeks with emerald green grass instead of Sarygyugh). Street abbreviations: “p.” stands and the Gulf region to the south. Abeghian museums in Echmiadzin (p. and fields of wild flowers, including rare and for poghots (street), ‘pts.’ for poghotsner (streets), ‘pta.’ 21) endemic Iris, Tulip and Gladiolus. The soil, built for poghota (avenue). GPS coordinates are in decimal A dozen or so settlements inhabit the marz, dating from layers of volcanic ash, is one of the richest in degrees (DD) Latitude x Longitude. Elevation (elev.) is in back to the Stone Age, and the marz has fantastic meters. Population (pop.) is estimated. Armavir marz: 3 of 94 - TourArmenia © 2008 Rick Ney. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - www.TACentral.com a traveler’s reference guide ® the world. Irrigated farmland extends far into 1980's as part of Gorbachev’s anti-alcoholism misnamed Semiramis or Shamiram canal, even the most parched regions of the marz. program (Armavir and Ararat marz had become a attributed by legend to the Babylonian queen major wine production centers) and western Semiramis, but in fact engineered by King Menuas The rich deposits of lava that streamed into the Armavir has mostly returned to its desert state. I or earlier. Further expansion of the canal Ararat Valley from its volcanoes also created network beginning in the 1930’s opened up vast spectacular rock formations and one of the largest tracks of semi-desert land in western Armavir and deposits of tufa and basalt in Europe and Western the area around the town of Armavir. Asia. Most of the quarries in the country are in Armavir, others in Ararat and Aragatsotn marz. Springs, Mineral Springs Do not be deceived by its parched appearance; Armavir is one of the richest sources of water in the country, almost all of it from underground springs that percolate through tufa and basalt fissures under the soil. In primordial times a steaming lake, Armavir’s valley gradually appeared over millions of years as surrounding volcanoes grew dormant, their dying gasps spurting out plumes of steam and hot mineral water. The marz is alternately called Armenia’s orchard Gradually these died out, leaving behind one of the and its garden, for the huge number of fields and largest aquifers in the Near East, the springs yards dedicated to fruit trees; apples, apricots, alternately between cold freshwater and hot cherries, plums, watermelons, strawberries, Water resources Armavir has extensive water mineral springs. While hot mineral springs do raspberries, melons, peaches along a few dozen resources that continue to support large wetland exist in Armavir, they are remote and not very other varieties of fruits, vegetables and nuts. Both areas. Marshlands can be found around Metsamor, plentiful, but if you stumble upon one, you do not the apricot and the peach are said to have their Markara, Old Armavir and Sardarapat; home to a want to miss the chance to drink a little or soak a origins in the Ararat valley, of which Armavir is the diverse waterfowl population, mostly made of toe or two into the soothing liquid. northern part of. Covering huge primordial lakes and swamps, the storks and cranes, the storks nesting on rooftops enriched soil ‘fermented’ over millions of years to and power line poles throughout the entire marz. One can easily recognize freshwater springs by the Other crops includes small fields of cotton (once a create the two largest agricultural valley in There have also been sightings of seagulls and surrounding juicy vegetation and geothermal major source of income, now kept mainly by those Western Asia, the other being the land around Van even the occasional Dalmatian pelican. springs - by outlets fringed with ochre colored wanting to spin their own cloth), and in the far in historic Armenia, present day Anatolia. As late stones. The temperature of springs is close to south, a once thriving silk industry that is all but as 1300 BCE the valleys were noted by Urartian Much of the water has been shepherded into ponds constant over the year and varied from 4o C in forgotten, save the wild mulberries that crowd the and Assyrian chroniclers as teeming with wildlife and lakes for breeding fish, which has encouraged Alpine springs to 22-55o C in thermae. Freshwater region and their silkworms. and deciduous forests. The museums at Erebuni some diversity in water flora and fauna, but is also springs are situated everyway on the slopes of displays wood trestles logged in the Urartu period, created one of the risks facing the marz. Several mountains. What the marz lacks in diversity it more than while excavations at Metsamor have uncovered varieties of reeds, water flowers and ferns thrive in makes up for in the flowers that bloom during its wooden fragments more than 6000 years old.