Fortress · Vayots Dzor
Smbataberd Fortress
Սմբատաբերդ · Smbataberd
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.
Where it is
39.8717, 45.3381
Why go
The outer defences are what survive: walls of dressed basalt with semicircular towers along the edge of the cliffs, while inside there is little beyond the traces of a citadel, dwellings and water reservoirs. Water once came by pipeline from springs near Tsaghats Kar monastery. The way up is a moderate hike from either village, and from the top the view takes in the Vardenis range; in April and May the meadows are green beneath snow on the peaks. The site is protected as a historical and cultural reserve.
Near Smbataberd Fortress
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.
19 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.
20 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
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.
23 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Canyon
Gnishik Canyon
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.
24 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ