UNDER CONSTRUCTION

   A bit further W, straddling the river,  is Acharkut (once Kunen), a formerly mixed village founded in 1930 as part of a forestry collective but occupying part of a once major 9-10^th c. town site. On the N bank is an early church. On the slope S of Acharkut by the bridge, a dirt road winds uphill to a ramshackle cemetery   church   of   S.   Astvatsatsin (inscription reads: “In  the  year  1675  I

   Bumping back to the main road,  you cross imperceptibly into a projecting piece of Azerbaijan and the destroyed Azeri village of Lower Askipara. However, the de facto boundary in 1999 runs along a line of hills about 3 km further E. The spur road left takes one back into Armenia, the village of Voskepar  just W  of   the   road.   Still standing  on the  edge  of  the  ruins  of

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Melikshahnazar son of Melikaslamaz of the Herume clan, and my wife Khanzate built S. Astvatsatsin by the hand of Master Hakop.”) and a picnic area beyond. At the W edge of Acharkut, on the N side of the stream (medieval Sranots bridge somewhere nearby), the main village road ends at a locked gate, which a neighbor will open. About 1 km W of the gate, overlooking the muddy, rutted but passable track (ideal for mountain bikes), are the ruined but interesting remains of a caravansaray below the 13^th c. Arakelots (Apostles’) Monastery complex. About 80 m further, a jeep track branches uphill to the monastery proper, visible on the crest of the hill in dense forest. Though the church is unimpressive, the forest setting, the mossy tombstones and substantial remains of the defensive circuit make this a rewarding site. A worn inscription of 1293 over the S entrance to the gavit links the site to Khutlu Bugha Artsruni, son of Atabek Sadun, lord of Mahkanaberd in the 13th c. In return for helping Vakhtang mount the throne of Georgia, Khutlu Bugha was made atabek and amirspasalar of Georgia. Unfortunately, a change of Mongol Il-Khans left him on the wrong side, and he was put to death in 1297 for plotting insurrection. There is a ruined chapel on the next hill as well. Supposedly, 2 km NE of Arakelots Vank on a flat place on the mountain ridge is the little church and khachkar of Khndzorut. To reach the remote but unique 13^th-14^th c. Kirants Monastery, continue upstream. After another 5 km or so, one branch of the road turns left, crossing the Zayghoshani bridge (with Persian inscription: in the year of the Hijra 1207-AD 1792) and ascending S toward Deghdznuti Vank of the 13^th c. (1 km or so). The small but fine main church seems to have been begun in 1258 and finished in 1274, and the gavit built very soon afterwards. An inscription on the S arch of the gavit remembers Asil, a pilgrim of 1292 from Mesopotamia, probably an Armenian merchant who did well in difficult times.  Another 6 km S of Deghdznuti (and probably more reachable from Yenokavan) is Samsoni Vank. This latter monastery has a domed 12-13^th c. church, a shrine and another small church. On the right bank of the Khndzorkut river, atop a mountain between Deghdznuti and Samsoni Vank is supposed to be the Berdakar medieval fort, with cisterns. This would have been Mahkanaberd, the fortress-capital of the Artsruni family, who enjoyed quasi-autonomy in the area in the 11-13^th c. On a slope opposite Deghdznuti Vank are allegedly remains of another fort, Melik-Abovi Berd. Back along the main river track, at about 8 km from the gate on the main W track is a splendid modern local monument, a monumental stone-built picnic site with open-air museum above a rock overhang closed with an iron grating, with local agricultural and household implements from the 19^th c. Continuing upstream, dodging rocks and deep ruts, one finally sees at about 10 km Kirants Monastery, 13-14^th c. The well-preserved but disused main church is unusual for its brick construction and elegant colored tile decoration.

Askipara, intact/restored despite use in the fighting as a machine gun nest, is Astvatsatsin Church of the 7^th c. Somewhere near are traces of a 10-11^th c. castle. A deteriorating road W from Voskepar leads one to a lovely stream valley filled with the skeletal houses of Upper Askipara (Verin Aghsibara), separated from Lower Askipara by Voskepar. At the W end of the village is an 18^th (?) c. tower fort with arrow slits. One km beyond is a medieval stone bridge. Taking the road further upstream, the right fork may lead to a large ruined church beyond the old collective farm complex.