UNDER CONSTRUCTION

   Continuing S is Ditsmayri.

   Kapan (till 1991  Ghapan,  originally Maden - "mineral" in Turkish) is the marz capital, a once bustling mining town built originally with French capital in the late 19^th c. It boasts a high-rise hotel on the main square and  a   museum.  On   the  W   edge  of Kapan, on a hill S of the Voghji river, sit the ruins of Halidzor fortress, with church   remains   within.   Built  in  the

17^th c. as a nunnery, it became the headquarters of Davit Bek, the famous early 18^th c. freedom fighter. He died there of illness in 1728, and is by repute buried in the cemetery outside the castle. On the NE edge of town is a 17^th c. church in the district called Kavard. Mt. Khustup, which rises to 3200 m S of Kapan, has on its slopes somewhere beyond the village of Vachagan the spring called Hatsi Aghbyur, destination of a local pilgrimage to a reputed holy man's tomb each year on July 8.