Maralik
A small town on the western slopes of Aragats, with early Christian churches in the Shirak basin

What is this place

Maralik is a small town in the north-west of Armenia, in Shirak Province, spread across the western slopes of the Aragats massif at an altitude of about 1,720 metres above sea level. Despite its modest size and a population of just over five thousand, this is a place with a very ancient history: a settlement existed here as early as the first millennium BCE, and early Christian churches and medieval khachkars survive in its surroundings.

The town lies in the Shirak basin, a broad high-altitude plain in the country's north-west framed by mountain ranges. From the east the western spurs of Aragats, the highest peak of modern Armenia, draw close to Maralik, and it is precisely this proximity to the volcanic massif that shapes the harsh, windy climate, the fertile volcanic soils and the characteristic open, treeless landscape typical of Shirak.

The history of these lands reaches deep into antiquity. Archaeologists have uncovered the foundations of dwellings and the remains of a necropolis dating to the first millennium BCE, evidence that the valley has been continuously inhabited for thousands of years. In the early Middle Ages the settlement was a notable centre, as the surviving churches and the carved stone crosses, or khachkars, of the 10th to 13th centuries attest.

The town's name has changed several times. In antiquity the settlement was called Kaputan. After the devastations of the 18th century the name Molla-Gokcha became attached to it; the historic Armenian name was restored in 1928, and the place received its present name, Maralik, in 1935. This sequence of renamings reflects the difficult fate of a region that has more than once endured ruin and resettlement.

Maralik's chief attraction is its early Christian churches. In the town itself and nearby stands the Church of Surb Astvatsatsin (the Holy Mother of God), attributed to the 5th and 6th centuries, as well as the Church of Surb Pogos-Petros (Saints Peter and Paul) of the same period. Among the oldest monuments is Karmir Vank, the Red Monastery, founded by tradition in the 5th century and restored in the early 20th century. Nearby one can also find the remains of defensive fortifications, recalling a turbulent past.

In the Soviet era the settlement gained fresh momentum: in 1962 it was granted the status of an urban-type settlement, and in 1995, in already independent Armenia, Maralik became a town. For a long time it served as the administrative centre of the Ani district, and today it belongs to Shirak Province, remaining one of the region's small but self-standing urban centres.

The economic life of Maralik, like that of Shirak as a whole, has traditionally been tied to highland farming and stock-raising: grain is grown in the surrounding fields, livestock is kept, and the volcanic soils of the plateau have long been valued for their fertility. The town's growth was also helped by its position on important transport routes, with the Gyumri-Talin-Yerevan highway passing nearby and a railway branch running to Maralik via Artik and Gyumri, although passenger trains stop at Pemzashen station some six kilometres away.

For those who find themselves in these parts, Maralik appeals above all through the quiet of the Armenian heartland and the ancient churches standing amid the open fields of Shirak. From here it is easy to set off for the foot of Aragats, for the large city of Gyumri with its rich architecture, or for the neighbouring villages of Shirak with their own old churches and khachkars.

Maralik is a place for an unhurried acquaintance with the real Shirak: stern high-altitude plains, the wind off Aragats, and the silent stones of churches that remember a millennium and a half of history.