{"id":15897,"date":"2014-06-04T11:04:27","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T09:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/?p=15897"},"modified":"2018-06-06T10:23:52","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T08:23:52","slug":"beautiful-places-armenia-lake-sevan-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2014\/06\/04\/beautiful-places-armenia-lake-sevan-area\/","title":{"rendered":"Most beautiful places in Armenia: Lake Sevan area"},"content":{"rendered":"

Follow my blog with Bloglovin<\/a>
\nWe were amazed by Armenia – I guess you already know that. With the landscapes that looked like from a fairytale about dragons and princesses \u00a0that daddy told Maks, with wild nature, mystical monasteries that you could see in solitude when they make the best impression. We’ve seen quite a lot, however we did not manage to see everything we put on our “TO SEE” list. We ran out of time! As someone wise once said: here’s a reason to return here.<\/p>\n

But now I’ve got one thing, that should be enough of a reason to go for most of you: picturesque Lake Sevan and its surroundings. Looks like on a postcard! Have a look yourselves!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

Don’t you think that Armenia is beautiful?<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

colours like on a postcard<\/p><\/div>\n

A trip to Lake Sevan is from the not-so-complicated and not-so-time-consuming type. At least if Yerevan is your starting point<\/strong> (you won’t find a better one, I swear!). It’s approximately 65 km from Yerevan to the city of Sevan, located by the lake and Sevanavank monastery that looks stunning standing there, close to the water. What’s more, the road is very comfy. No holes and you can drive as quick as on highway, with occasional cow herds passing through. An ideal place for the first trip, even though for us it was the last one. We decided to go for a much more tiring and distant one first. All because of the drive to Northern Armenia.<\/p>\n

The lake itself is huge and covers approx. 3% of the country’s area (it used to be 5%, whole Armenia is 29800 km2 big. Therefore it’s not surprising that it’s the biggest lake in Caucasus. It’s located 1916 metres above sea level and it’s one of the highest located lakes in the world. It’s also called one of the seas of Armenia along with Lake Van and Lake Urmia. It’s a bit weird as Van is currently located in Turkey and Urmia in Iran. I guess that Armenians got used to it. The water level in the lake is constantly decreasing. Supposedly it went down by 19 meters in the last 40 years. Earlier, Stalin helped the decrease of water level. A while ago, Sevanavank monastery was located on an island (now it’s on a peninsula!) but Stalin decided that the lake should lose some water in order to irrigate the fields and support the hydroelectric power station. Because of that, the water level went down by 30 metres!.<\/p>\n

What’s interesting, there’s 28 tributaries providing water for the lake but only one river with its source in it – Hrazdan<\/strong>. Lake Sevan looks really amazing with the turquoise and flat waterline. No wonder that Russian poet and journalist, Maxim Gorky once said that “the waters of Sevan are like a piece of the sky that ascended onto the earth and found its place in the mountains”.<\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

ideal place for a weekend trip from Yerevan<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

Instead of Maks – Mr Red Cat, a loyal journey companion, gets photographed<\/p><\/div>\n

There’s a bit of a hike up the stairs necessary in order to see Sevanavank<\/strong> monastery. The legend says that the name comes from Sev Van which means The Black Monastery – where the sinful clergymen used to be sent… quite a nice place, these sinners had to go to! \ud83d\ude42 The views from the monastery area are breathtaking and the monastery looks great, even though it’s the 6th or 7th one we visit in Armenia. Guess that’s because they’re all a bit different..<\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

Once again, sightseeing with no tourists around – that’s what we like \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

like from a movie \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

Two churches that together form Sevanavank – Holy Apostles and Holy Mother of God<\/p><\/div>\n

Maks obviosly expected a bath – it was a lake after all. This did not go so well since the water temperature in middle May is not too inviting (in the summer it’s supposed to be 18-22 degrees), but the views make this trip worth it even if you’re not planning any beach situations. Before you get to the monastery, you’ll see some souvenir stands, local musicians and a surprise – a real restaurant! \ud83d\ude42 I think it’s the first one we’ve seen outside of Yerevan. Nothing special, but you can still eat something before further sightseeing – e.g. a traditional dolma (vine leaves stuffed with minced meat) or crayfish. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

some music to accompany your visit?<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

After eating something, you should consider going to Noratus. It’s 30 km of nice roads going along the lake \u00a0from the monastery. Lots of nice views included. Unfortunately the signs leading to a medieval cemetery are missing, even though it’s the largest collection kchachkars<\/strong> (votive gravestones that are typical for Armenia – you can also find them in monasteries or at the entrances to tombs) in Armenia. Reportedly there’s a few hundred of those there with the oldest dating back to 7th century. We would have probably never found it if it wasn’t for locals help. We met one great Armenian who turned back and drove 5 km not in his direction in order to drive us directly to the cemetery gates.<\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

amazing cemetery in Noratus<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

It was worth doing these extra 60 km!<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Armenia,

there are also some friendly inhabitants \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/div>\n

The way back from Noratus is approx. 90 km. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts and you have to drive through the city of Sevan again. There’s one more interesting thing on the way from Yerevan to Sevan – Tsaghkadzor Armenian ski resort <\/strong>located 50 km from Yerevan, <\/strong>where you can ski from January to April! Did you know that you can ski in Armenia ?:)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow my blog with Bloglovin We were amazed by Armenia – I guess you already know that. With the landscapes that looked like from a fairytale about dragons and princesses \u00a0that daddy told Maks, with wild nature, mystical monasteries that you could see in solitude when they make the best impression. We’ve seen quite a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":15898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3024,2990,2982,2981],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMost beautiful places in Armenia: Lake Sevan area<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Armenia is amazing. 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