Monument · Voghjaberd, Kotayk
Charents Arch
Չարենցի կամար · Arch of Charents
A memorial arch near Voghjaberd on the way to Garni, built in 1957 to a design by architect Rafael Israyelyan and dedicated to the poet Yeghishe Charents, looking out towards Mount Ararat.
Where it is
40.1737, 44.6367
Why go
The view is the reason to stop. Israyelyan chose the spot for its outlook on Mount Ararat, so the arch works as a frame for the mountain and loses much of its point when Ararat is hidden by cloud or haze. The monument also carries lines from Charents' poetry in praise of Ararat. Treat it as a brief roadside pause on the drive from Yerevan to Garni rather than a destination in its own right.
Near Charents Arch
Archaeological site
Erebuni Fortress
The hilltop citadel of Arin Berd in south-east Yerevan, founded in 782 BC by the Urartian king Argishti I, whose cuneiform foundation inscription records the name from which Yerevan's own derives.
9 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monument
Mother Armenia Monument
The 22-metre copper statue of a woman holding a sheathed sword, raised in 1967 in Victory Park on high ground above central Yerevan, on a pedestal first built for a statue of Stalin.
10 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Museum
Matenadaran
Yerevan's research institute of ancient manuscripts on Mashtots Avenue, holding about 20,000 manuscripts in Armenian and other languages, with a museum in its 1945–1959 building.
10 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Church
Ptghnavank
The roofless shell of a 6th–7th-century domed hall church in the middle of Ptghni village, just north of Yerevan, with carved window frames and a relief of a lion beneath a palm tree.
10 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ