2 days in Tavush

In the 13th century a craftsman named Makar and his son decided to turn a small 18th century church into a majestic monastic complex, which later received the name Makaravank and became one of the impressive monuments of the Tavush region.

Arakelots monastery complex is a 13th-century monastery located 3 km from Kirants village in the Tavush region. It consists of two churches. The smaller one belongs to the single-nave basilica type and the larger one to the domed hall type. Approximately 80 m below is a caravanserai. Two kilometers to the northeast is the Khndzorut small church.

Dilijan is a city in the northern Tavush region of Armenia. Dilijan is an important tourist center. In the center of the community is Sharambeyan Street, which is considered the city’s historical center, famous for its unique architecture, workshops, galleries, and museums. In the vicinity of the town are the touristic Parz lake, Jukhtak monastery, Haghartsin, Goshavank, Goshi lake, etc. Dilijan is also noted as a center for hiking, mountain biking, and resort recreation.

In X-XIII centuries during the consecration of the monastery of Haghartsin, bequeathed by the kingdom of Bagratunyats, an eagle flew up over the dome of the main temple, and thus the monastery became known as the “monastery of the playing eagle” (Hagartsin), as “hagh” means play in Armenian , and “artsine” is eagle.

Dilijan Nature Reserve was established in 1958. The flora of the National Park includes 902 species of flowering plants, including those registered in the Red Book. In the reserve there is a brown bear, an antelope, an elk, a lynx, a forest cat, a fox, a lynx, a Persian squirrel, as well as many reptiles, amphibians and birds.

Goshavank, founded in the 12th century by Mkhitar Gosh, an outstanding religious figure, scientist, fabulist and legal scholar of the Middle Ages, was a prestigious center of spiritual culture and writing.

Lake Parz (Arm. clear lake), located at an altitude of 1350 m with a maximum depth of 10 m, is one of the famous natural hiking trails in Armenia.