UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
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Hayravank
or Ayrivan; 22.4 km from the
Sevan highway, on the left (E of the road) shortly after the
Geghama Pensionat, a paved road leads to a rock outcrop with a
fine view of Lake Sevan.
There stands Hayravank monastery, with a late 9th c church, a 12th
c. gavit, and
khachkars.
The rocks just NW preserve substantial walls of a |
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Exiting
E at a somewhat
over-
engineered cloverleaf intersection leads one toward Lake Sevan
and the ancient village of
Noratus
or Noraduz. Turning right at the first street past the bridge
leads to the S edge of town and S.
Grigor Lusavorich church/Daputs
Monastery of the 9-10th c., rebuilt by
the 11th
c. architect
Khachatur.
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UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
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Bronze
Age through medieval fort and settlement; nearby are Iron Age
tombs. There are two shrines in the village, with inscribed
khachkars.
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Continuing
straight into the center of village, the second left leads to
the ruined S. Astvatsatsin church, a basilica built by Prince Sahak at the end
of the 9th c., probably on earlier foundations.
Outside the W door are intriguing carved grave monuments.
On the E edge of town is a huge medieval-modern cemetery
with an impressive array of early khachkars
as well as evocative modern funerary statuary.
Continuing up the bare, windswept hillside beyond,
there is a smaller cluster of khachkars around a medieval
funeral chapel. Two km E of Noratus on the top of a hill is the
Heri Dar cyclopean fortress with a large tomb and two big
inhabited caves. On a promontory N of Noratus is a large,
well-maintained forest of antenna masts, ostensibly belonging to
Armentel.
A couple of km S of Noratus, near the former village of
Artsvakar (formerly Ghshlakh, now a suburb of Gavar), are the
Early Iron Age cyclopean fortresses of Ghslakh (near the lake),
Zhami Dar (just W of Artsvakar) and Mrtbi Dzor (S of Zhami Dar). |