Church · Ashtarak, Ashtarak community, Aragatsotn
Karmravor Church
Կարմրավոր եկեղեցի · Surb Astvatsatsin, Ashtarak
Ashtarak's Karmravor — 'the reddish one' — is a compact 7th-century cross-plan church whose octagonal drum still carries many of the original roof tiles bedded in mortar.
Where it is
40.2997, 44.3654
Why go
Karmravor rewards a close look more than a long stay. It has had little restoration beyond some minor work in the 1950s, so the horseshoe-shaped apse, the geometric and foliage carving along the eaves and the tiled dome remain close to their original form. Because it stands inside the town of Ashtarak, it slots easily into a day in Aragatsotn: Oshakan, where Mesrop Mashtots is buried, and Saghmosavank on the rim of the Kasagh gorge both lie within the same Ashtarak community.
Near Karmravor Church
Church
Saint Mesrop Mashtots Church, Oshakan
The black-tuff basilica in Oshakan built in 1873–79 over the grave of Mesrop Mashtots, creator of the Armenian alphabet, whose tomb lies in a crypt beneath the main altar.
6 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Saghmosavank Monastery
Prince Vache Vachutyan's monastery on the rim of the Kasagh river gorge at Saghmosavan, where the Church of Zion of 1215 and a gavit added by his son in 1255 face Mount Ara.
9 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Fortress
Amberd Fortress
A basalt-walled fortress at 2,300 m on the southern slopes of Mount Aragats, on a triangular cape where the Arkashen and Amberd rivers meet, with the Vahramashen church of 1026 beside it.
15 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Church
Saint Hripsime Church
Catholicos Komitas's church of 618 on the eastern edge of Vagharshapat, raised over the tomb of the martyr Hripsime on a plan of four apses with niches between them and rooms in the corners.
15 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ