Arevik
Armenian Catholic village near Gyumri

What is this place

Arevik is a small village in the Akhuryan district of Shirak Province, just a few kilometres from Gyumri. It sits at about 1,530 metres on the open Shirak plateau, close to the borders with Turkey and Georgia.

Arevik spreads across the broad Shirak plateau at roughly 1,530 metres above sea level, and the provincial capital Gyumri lies very close by. This is borderland country: the frontier with Turkey is about fifteen kilometres away, and Georgia is not far either. The village took its present name in 1945 — before that it was called Tapadolak. Today around fifteen hundred people live in Arevik.

What makes Arevik distinctive is its people: it is one of the Shirak villages where the majority are Armenian Catholics. The Armenian Catholic community took shape here historically, and Arevik is one of its centres along with the neighbouring villages around Gyumri. A 19th-century stone church still stands in the village, and locals make their living from livestock and farming, as in most villages of the Shirak plain.

For a traveller, Arevik is appealing chiefly as a quiet stop near Gyumri: a peaceful border village with its church, open views across the plateau, and the unhurried rhythm of rural Shirak. It is an easy place to call in along the way and feel the real countryside of Armenia, away from the tourist trails.