Monastery · Artsvanist, Gegharkunik
Vanevan Monastery
Վանեվանի վանք · Vanevank
Tucked into a gorge south of Artsvanist, near the south-eastern shore of Lake Sevan, this monastery's main church of Saint Grigor was built in 903 by Prince Shapuh Bagratuni and his sister Mariam.
Where it is
40.1465, 45.5155
Why go
Expect a partly ruined group rather than a restored complex: the main church still carries its dome, while the southern church beside it has lost its own, and a gavit was added later. A spring and a shallow cave lie close to the buildings. The main church follows a cruciform plan with four semicircular apses beneath an octagonal drum. It suits travellers already driving around the Sevan basin who want an early medieval church in a gorge setting; for most visitors it belongs on a longer loop around the lake rather than a dedicated trip.
Near Vanevan Monastery
Monastery
Makenyats Vank
Grouped around the church of Surb Astvatsatsin, built by Prince Grigor Supan in the 9th century, this walled monastery stands at the edge of a gorge in the village of Makenis, south of Lake Sevan.
9 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.
34 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Waterfall
Jermuk Waterfall
A broad waterfall in the spa town of Jermuk that spreads over a wide rock face in many thin streams on its way into the Arpa river, rather than dropping as one heavy column.
37 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Hayravank Monastery
On a rocky cliff above Lake Sevan's south-western shore, Hayravank groups a late 9th-century church, a 10th-century chapel and a 12th-century gavit among khachkars and old gravestones.
47 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ