UNDER CONSTRUCTION

   Haykavan     (till      1946    Tapadibi, church) is further S. The Hellenistic city of Armavir, capital of the Orontid dynasty from the 4^th-2^nd c BC, was centered on the taller, steeper volcanic hill about 2 km further E. Easiest approach is, from modern Armavir,  crossing  the  overpass   and

   Next is the village of Armavir (till 1935 Ghrdghuli/Kurdu-Kuli), with S. Astvatsatsin church, find spot of cuneiform inscriptions of Urartian King Sarduri.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

then jogging left and (after 100 m) right toward Haikavan (signposted “Margara”). About 300 m after the road bears left, a right turn will take you to the S side of the hill. Though Armavir was replaced as capital first by Ervandashat and then by Dvin, it maintained substantial habitation through the Medieval period, judging from the glazed pottery fragments still to be found.  There is a substantial temple platform on the summit, and extensive house walls on the W side. Somewhere on the S slope outside the wall, 7 inscriptions in ancient Greek were carved into two rock faces about 12 meters apart, a reminder of Hellenistic influence on the Orontid kings.  These inscriptions, probably carved around 200 BC, include a snatch of poetry regarding the Archaic Greek poet Hesiod, a pastiche of lines from Euripides, a list of Macedonian months, and some fragmentary letter texts. At the base of the hill is a small, modern cave-shrine marked by an iron cross.