Armenian Tourist Attraction
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Armenian Tourist Attractions: Rediscover Armenia Guide http://mapy.mk.cvut.cz/data/Armenie-Armenia/all/Rediscover%20Arme... rediscover armenia guide armenia > tourism > rediscover armenia guide about cilicia | feedback | chat | © REDISCOVERING ARMENIA An Archaeological/Touristic Gazetteer and Map Set for the Historical Monuments of Armenia Brady Kiesling July 1999 Yerevan This document is for the benefit of all persons interested in Armenia; no restriction is placed on duplication for personal or professional use. The author would appreciate acknowledgment of the source of any substantial quotations from this work. 1 von 71 13.01.2009 23:05 Armenian Tourist Attractions: Rediscover Armenia Guide http://mapy.mk.cvut.cz/data/Armenie-Armenia/all/Rediscover%20Arme... REDISCOVERING ARMENIA Author’s Preface Sources and Methods Armenian Terms Useful for Getting Lost With Note on Monasteries (Vank) Bibliography EXPLORING ARAGATSOTN MARZ South from Ashtarak (Maps A, D) The South Slopes of Aragats (Map A) Climbing Mt. Aragats (Map A) North and West Around Aragats (Maps A, B) West/South from Talin (Map B) North from Ashtarak (Map A) EXPLORING ARARAT MARZ West of Yerevan (Maps C, D) South from Yerevan (Map C) To Ancient Dvin (Map C) Khor Virap and Artaxiasata (Map C Vedi and Eastward (Map C, inset) East from Yeraskh (Map C inset) St. Karapet Monastery* (Map C inset) EXPLORING ARMAVIR MARZ Echmiatsin and Environs (Map D) The Northeast Corner (Map D) Metsamor and Environs (Map D) Sardarapat and Ancient Armavir (Map D) Southwestern Armavir (advance permission required) Southeastern Armavir (Map D) North of Armavir City West from Armavir EXPLORING GEGHARKUNIK MARZ Approaching Sevan (Maps H, E) Gavar and the South Sevan Basin (Maps E, F) East from Martuni (Map F, G) Former Vardenis Rayon (SE Sevan Basin) (Map G) North from Vardenis (Map G) East from Vardenis (Map G) The East Side of Sevan (Map E) South toward Vardenis (Map E) Down (NW) the Getik River (Map E) 2 von 71 13.01.2009 23:05 Armenian Tourist Attractions: Rediscover Armenia Guide http://mapy.mk.cvut.cz/data/Armenie-Armenia/all/Rediscover%20Arme... EXPLORING KOTAYK MARZ The Road to Garni and Geghard (Map H) North along Hrazdan Gorge (Map H) Tsaghkadzor and the Marmarik Valley (Map H) Abovian and the Foothills (Map H) To the Geghama Mountains (Map H) The East Road from Abovian (Map H) Into Mt. Ara (Map H) To Yeghvard and Buzhakan (Map H) EXPLORING LORI MARZ Spitak and Eastward (Map I) North to Stepanavan (Map I, J) Along the Gargar River (Map J) Along the Dzoraget (Map J) North from Stepanavan (Map J) Vanadzor and Eastward (Map I) North from Vanadzor on the Debed River (Map I, J) West of the Debed Gorge (Map J) Sanahin and North from Alaverdi (Map J) West from Spitak (Map I) EXPLORING SHIRAK MARZ North to Gyumri (Map B) East from Maralik (Map B) Up the Akhuryan (Map B) Gyumri East toward Spitak (Map M) West of the Akhuryan River (Map M) The Northwest Corner (Map M) North Toward Akhalkalakh (Map M) EXPLORING SYUNIK MARZ Entering Syunik (Map L) To Dastakert (Map L) To Vorotnavank and Beyond (Map L) East to Goris (Map L) The Road to Tatev (Map L) South to Kapan (Map L) East of Kapan (Map M) The Shikahogh Reserve (Map M) West toward Kajaran (Map L, M) South to Meghri (Map L) EXPLORING TAVUSH MARZ West of Dilijan (Map N) East From Dilijan (Map N) The Shamshadin District (Map O) East of Ijevan (Map N) 3 von 71 13.01.2009 23:05 Armenian Tourist Attractions: Rediscover Armenia Guide http://mapy.mk.cvut.cz/data/Armenie-Armenia/all/Rediscover%20Arme... North to Noyemberian along the Border (Map N) EXPLORING VAYOTS DZOR East from Ararat (Map P) Selim Caravansaray and the Yeghegis Monasteries (Map P) Shatin and Eastward (Map P) Yeghegnadzor and Environs (Map P) Moving East to Vaik (Map P) Southern Vayots Dzor (Map P Jermuk and Eastward (Map P) 4 von 71 13.01.2009 23:05 Armenian Tourist Attractions: Rediscover Armenia Guide http://mapy.mk.cvut.cz/data/Armenie-Armenia/all/Rediscover%20Arme... Author’s Preface Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Armenia has fallen off the tourist map. Ethnic Armenians from the diaspora make their brief pilgrimage to the religious capital Echmiatsin, see Garni, Geghard and Khor Virap, pass a few wind-swept days by Lake Sevan, and possibly make the journey to Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh or the Gyumri-Spitak earthquake zone to see where their donations have gone. The scenery of the Ararat valley and its rocky edges can seem bleak and alien. They leave Armenia, often, with memories of faulty plumbing interspersed with random monumentality. But there is another Armenia, a subtly green, richly textured landscaped, every corner of which has been sculpted by millennia of human triumphs and tragedies. There is a gifted and generous population, now mostly cut off from outside stimuli but still desperately eager to demonstrate to foreign visitors its traditional hospitality and pride at its survival. There is nature, exotic, sometimes heart-rendingly beautiful, now mostly unvisited but far from inaccessible. And of course there is the basic human truth, that enjoyment of a place or activity is directly dependent on the investment made. Armenia is still difficult to explore unaided, but the rewards of doing so are commensurately great. This guide was designed for several purposes, but its central goal is simply to exist, as a first taste of Armenia in English for enthusiasts willing to invest some attention in this country during a difficult transition period. I believe that tourism development will play an important role in Armenia’s economic rebirth, a rebirth many brave souls are helping to achieve. Second goal is to empower independent travel, not dependent on a paid guide or interpreter, to allow curious visitors to navigate the often unsignposted hinterland. A third goal is to encourage interest in Armenia’s antiquities by English-speaking scholars. A fourth, expressed through the choice of material, is to preserve some record of the wrenching demographic changes that have taken place since 1988, to preserve some traces of a once multi-ethnic landscape. A final goal is to repay through some prospect of future economic development the dozens of ordinary Armenians, scattered across the landscape, who opened their homes, larders and hearts to a disheveled traveler on foot, bicycle or battered station wagon, speaking mangled Armenian and looking for monasteries. As the after-hours work of a non-specialist who has had time to visit only a selection of the sites mentioned, this guide is far from a complete archaeological, historical, cultural and/or practical guidebook to Armenia. It is only as accurate as its sources, some of which are vague or contradictory. I hope that other guidebook compilers, and several are reportedly at work, will improve upon the raw information contained herein, with the goal of opening up Armenia to the broadest possible range of tourism, study, and adventure. Sources and Methods Sources of information: This differs from other works on Armenia in that its subject is the fixed territory of the Republic of Armenia, rather than on the dispersed monuments of the Armenian people. Original starting point for this work was the official list of communities and number of registered voters published in electronic form by the Armenian Central Election Commission (funded by IFES and USAID) following the 1998 Presidential elections (major population shifts have occurred in Armenia since the last Soviet census in 1989, published results of which were in any case was not conveniently to hand). These place names, which have changed in a series of waves since 1921, most recently after the mutual ethnic cleansing of 1988-89, were compared against Soviet General Staff maps (1978) and more recent maps of Armenia, and the names were then looked up in the Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia or, in a more sophisticated stage, the four existing (out of five planned) volumes of the Dictionary of Armenian Place Names. This latter work contains a huge amount of information and is an invaluable reference. Many inscription translations were derived from Khachatrian’s French version. It seemed important to include as many translated inscriptions as I had strength for: in most cases the donors of a church ask to be remembered in our prayers, and it would seem churlish to refuse. This research was sometimes followed, sometimes preceded, by long drives in the countryside, sometimes alone, sometimes in the company of patient friends and colleagues. The results are erratic and incomplete of course, despite friendly contributions by many wonderful people (See below). As a work in progress, in flexible electronic form, it will, I hope, continue to expand and evolve through the contributions of all those interested in the land of Armenia. Two asterisks after a place name (**) signal a place that struck me as unforgetable. One asterisk (*) signals a place worth a detour. Absence of stars may simply mean that I haven’t been there properly and should in no case be a deterrent to exploration. 5 von 71 13.01.2009 23:05 Armenian Tourist Attractions: Rediscover Armenia Guide http://mapy.mk.cvut.cz/data/Armenie-Armenia/all/Rediscover%20Arme... People: Thanks to Dr. Aram Kalantarian, Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences, and to Boris Gasparian of the same Institute, two scientists who generously shared their time and expertise, and would have shared more had I been efficient enough to make better use of them. Boris spent sleepless nights making the archaeological component more detailed and rigorous than it would have been. Many thanks to the State Administration for Protection of Historic and Cultural Monuments, whose Director, Dr.