Canyon · Gnishik, Areni Community, Vayots Dzor
Gnishik Canyon
Գնիշիկի ձոր · Noravank Canyon · Gnishik River Gorge
A red-walled gorge in Vayots Dzor cut by the Gnishik river, about 8 km long, with Noravank monastery above its lower end and marked trails in the Arpa Protected Landscape.
Where it is
39.6578, 45.2972
Why go
Most visitors see the Gnishik gorge only through a windscreen on the road to Noravank. On foot it reads very differently: armenia.travel describes sheer red cliffs over a valley roughly 8 km long, with green scrub below and mountain goats on the walls. HIKEArmenia's trail runs through the canyon from the remote village of Gnishik to the monastery in about five hours, and the Arpa Environmental Foundation publishes shorter marked routes, including the 3.1 km Bezoar Trail in the river gorge. The cliffs also draw rock climbers. It suits hikers basing themselves in Areni.
Near Gnishik Canyon
Monastery
Noravank Monastery
A monastery at the head of the red-cliffed gorge of the Amaghu river in Vayots Dzor, best known for Burtelashen, a two-storey memorial church whose upper floor is reached by narrow steps jutting from its west façade.
6 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Cave
Magellan Cave
A cave off the Noravank road near Areni, named after the villager Magellan Arakelyan who found it in 1946 and now visited on short guided tours past stalactites and roosting bats.
11 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Cave
Areni-1 Cave
A limestone cave in the Arpa River gorge at Areni where excavators found a winemaking installation of about 4000 BC and a leather shoe dated to 3627–3377 BC.
11 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Fortress
Smbataberd Fortress
The basalt-walled ruin of a medieval fortress on a ridge between the villages of Artabuynk and Yeghegis, its towers watching over the gorge of the Yeghegis river.
24 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ