Gegharkunik is, above all, a lake. Sevan, the largest lake in the Caucasus, lies here at an altitude of nearly 1,900 meters and occupies almost a fifth of the entire province. On a clear day the water reaches all the way to the horizon and changes color from steely morning to the dense blue of midday; locals say Sevan has seven shades, and each one lasts no longer than an hour.
For centuries the life of the region ran along the edge of the shore. On a rocky peninsula stands Sevanavank, from the 9th century — two dark tuff churches reached by a long stairway above the water. A little to the south, in Noratus, lies the world's largest field of khachkars: almost a thousand carved cross-stones, each with its own ornament, lined up among the grass like a stone forest. And above the western shore, on the way to Vayots Dzor, hides the Selim caravanserai — the last refuge for those who crossed the pass along the Great Silk Road.
The province's capital, Gavar, stands in the valley of the Gavaraget River, away from the noisy highways. Sevan, Martuni, Vardenis, and mountainous Chambarak are strung along the shore and foothills; into their rivers — Gavaraget, Masrik, Argichi — the Sevan trout, the famous ishkhan, comes to spawn in spring, and the fishermen's nets still bring in whitefish. In winter the shore freezes hard in the wind, but it is here, by the great water, that the true Armenian expanse is recognized.
«Sevan is the eye of Armenia, open to the sky.»
On this page — the province's settlements (with weather on click), the main landmarks, routes, and chronicle. Sevanavank, Noratus, Hayravank — each with its own time and its own character by the great water.
