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Armavir
Marz is located in the Arax
(Yeraskh in historical times) river
valley, and has some of the richest and most fertile land in
Armenia, made up of the three Soviet regions of Ejmiatsin (the
basin of the lower Kasagh
river), Armavir (the Metsamor,
formerly Kara Su or Sevjur- "Blackwater"-basin), and
Baghramian, the rocky western upland. Jewel in the touristic crown is Ejmiatsin,
the mother church of Armenia, with its treasury and outlying
early medieval churches
(S.
Hripsime, S.
Gayane), including the
ruined Zvartnots
Cathedral. S.
Astvatsatsin church of 14th c. in Bambakashat has
also an architectural interest. The Sardarapat battle monument includes a splendid, recently refurbished
ethnographic museum
worth a separate visit. The
Neolithic-Eneolithic tells of Khatunarkh in Gay, Teghut
near Vagharshapat, in Tsaghkunk,
Aratashen,
the Early Bronze/Iron Age site/museum of Metsamor in Taronik and Early
Bronze Age settlement of Mokhrablur in Vache, with
temple remnants, a
prominent circular tower of Iron Age in Aghavnatun, Urartian/Hellenistic city of
Argishtihinili/Armavir,
Hellenistic city of
Yervandashat (both ancient Armenian capitals) and fortress of
Aragats, Targmanchats
ruined monastery of 7th
c. in Aigeshat, are of considerable archaeological
significance, though somewhat mysterious to non-specialists.
Inhabited since the Neolithic period, and of great importance in
Urartian and Hellenistic times (Armavir and Yervandashat were
ancient Armenian capitals), under Mongol, Turkish and Persian
occupation these fertile river lands were too tempting to the
conquerors, who pushed the Armenian population into the
foothills. Only around Ejmiatsin, where the Armenian church held
on to rich estates, did the Armenian people retain a majority in
the Arax valley before the 20th century population
transfers. Thus, medieval
Armenian remnants are fairly sparse.
Nor has Russian/Soviet rule been kind to the monuments of
Armenia’s subsequent Persian overlords. Though flat, the
country is intersected by streams, ponds and canals, with rich
bird life. Swifts dart
along the road at evening, and storks soar sternly overhead.
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