Aregnadem
Highland village in north-west Shirak

What is this place

Aregnadem is a small mountain village in Armenia's Shirak Province, within the Amasia community, sitting at around 1,850 metres. About 388 people live here today.

Aregnadem lies in the far north-western corner of Shirak, among open upland meadows near the Arpi reservoir. It is a stark, wind-swept place with long snowy winters and short, bright summers — the classic highland Shirak landscape, where treeless hills roll all the way to the horizon.

The village has a long and complicated history. It was founded back in the late 17th century under the name Gharachanta, and in the Soviet years, from 1939, it was called Azizbekov. It took its present Armenian name, Aregnadem, in 1991. The current Armenian community was re-established in 1988 by settlers who came from Georgia, Azerbaijan and Gyumri.

There is no need to travel to Aregnadem for famous sights — it is a quiet rural spot without grand monuments. But the road here passes the lake-and-steppe expanses of Lake Arpi National Park, known for its wetlands and migratory birds, so the village fits neatly into a route through Armenia's wild north-west.