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Fortress · Bjni, Kotayk

Bjni Fortress

Բջնի բերդ

Medieval fortress ruins on a promontory above the right bank of the Hrazdan River in Bjni, a Kotayk village also known for its bottled mineral water, turned into a stronghold by the Pahlavuni princes in the 10th century.

Where it is

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40.4607, 44.6544

Why go

What survives is fragmentary but readable: stretches of wall and towers, the foundations of a church, and on the lower side a vaulted secret passage that once led down towards the river. On the north, where the main gate stood, pyramidal walls run for more than 120 metres. The site is kept as a historical and cultural reserve and saw restoration work in 2007–2008. It suits travellers who enjoy piecing a ruin together on foot, and the village is 40 minutes' drive from Yerevan.

Base yourself nearby

Mountain Resort

Tsaghkadzor

Tsaghkadzor is Armenia's main mountain resort, an hour north of Yerevan on the slopes of Mount Teghenis, with a lift system rising from around 1,966 metres to about 2,819 metres, the eleventh-century Kecharis monastery in the town centre, and a Soviet-era Olympic training complex that explains why a town this size has infrastructure this large. It is a genuine ski destination in winter and a cool-air escape with a ropeway and walking in summer, and the two experiences are almost entirely different.

City

Yerevan

Yerevan is Armenia's capital and the base for almost every trip to the country: a low-rise city built largely from pink volcanic tuff, with a dense cafe and dining culture, serious museums and manuscript collections, Soviet-modernist architecture, and monasteries, wine country and Lake Sevan all within a day's return drive.

Near Bjni Fortress