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Published: September 15th 2023
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Today we drive out of the mists of Goris to A farm in the North Eastern mountains.
We leave Goris with a full tank, costing about £44 for 38 litres of 95 octane petrol.
We retrace the Yerevan Highway, still under cloud, past the Tavet turn off and through the police arch where lorries were queuing two days ago. No hold up today and we notice a sign saying Weight Check, so that must be the reason for the disruption. We enter the green zone of the Wine Route with fruit trees and vines but soon hit new territory turning right for Martuni, at the southern end of Lake Sevan.
The Selim mountain pass (over 2400 meters) crosses the Vardenis mountains range and connects Yeghegnadzor, capital of Vayots Dzor province with Martuni, on Sevan Lake. There are raptors all about, eagles circling, kites, kestrels.
This road is a joy, the surface very smooth, no lorries and little traffic. It rises steeply with hairpins from Vayots Dzor towards the north (Gegharkunik province). At the top is Orbelian’s Caravanserai Lodging House used since ancient times. It was built in 1332, by prince Chesar Orbelian to
accommodate travellers and their animals as they crossed the pass. The only entrance to the caravanserai is at the rectangular vestibule adjacent to the main hall of the structure. It has a gabled stone shingle roof that rests on three arches.
The caravanserai is constructed of blocks of basalt. It has a single hall divided into three naves, with seven pairs of polyhedral pillars. Animals rested in the narrow aisles to the left and right of the main hall. Between the pillars were stone troughs for the animals, and in the corner of one of the halls was a pool of water. Travellers slept in a separate room built at the end of the narrow aisles on the western side of the caravanserai. The roof above the three-aisled hall had three parallel vaults with an oculus in each. These are the only source of light and air. It must have been pretty smokey and smelly in there.
At the very top the first view of Lake Sevan is stunning. Turquoise blue and very wide backed by the mountains of Azerbaijan.
The descent is slower because the lake is at an altitude of 1900 metres within
an upland plain. We pass isolated settlements which look very poor. A chapel or two then pastures full of cattle and sheep, haystacks and greener grass than we’ve seen so far.
We reach the lake at Martuni and skirt anticlockwise to reach our destination, another Martuni which is high up above the N East of water. The road crosses and then parallels an electrified railway line. It becomes clear that it isn’t a passenger railway any more. The stations are deserted and in bad repaire. We see a few goods carriages parked up at one point.
We stop for a late lunch around 2.30pm and sit at the roadside facing the azure of the lake on mounds of glacial agglomerate, stone chips and gravel bound together in a solid escarpment. There are wild flowers including a yellow mallow which Marion gathers seed heads from.
We reach Chambarak after a diversion through village with muddy tracks parallel to the road which the tar boys are re-laying. After a WhatsAp phone call to our next host, Satenik, we find our way to Nature Rooms along more improbable muddy tracks where we’re greeted by her Mum . She gives us
a warm Armenian welcome.
We park by her house and walk up a final steep section of the track that our car won’t manage. It is a brand new lodge on stilts at the head of a valley. The view from large portrait windows is beyond description. The interior is painted white with pine panelling, so different to the dark décors of the hôtel rooms we’ve had so far. Well appointed, spacious with a studio space tooled up with easels and materials for youngsters who camp here at a summer eco nature school. It is beautiful.
Our host Satenik arrives from work and has brought us some groceries. We chat about her project. She is a teacher but now heads child development in the region having studied in Ireland, Scandinavia and Portugal. Her dad, who has come to say hello, is a farmer and veterinary surgeon, and also works as a psychologist. Lovely people.
Dad is proud of an English / Armenian link in Mediaeval history.
At the time of the Armenian kingdom in Cilicia (1080-1375), which held sway over territories extending from the Taurus mountains to the Mediterranean there were relationships between five English and
seven Armenian Kings:
ENGLISH KINGS:
1) Richard I, “Coeur-de-Lion”, 1189- 1199.
2) Edward I, 1239-1307.
3) Edward II, 1284-1327.
4) Edward III, 1312-1377.
5) Richard II, 1367-1400.
ARMENIAN KINGS:
1) Levon II, 1186-1219.
2) Hetoum II (Heyton), 1289-1305.
3) Levon IV, 1305-1308.
4) Levon V, 1320-1342.
5) Guy, 1342-1344.
6) Constantine III, 1344-1363.
7) Levon VI Lusignan, 1374-1375.
The years 1189-1199 marked the beginning of Anglo-Armenian relationship Richard I of England, who figured prominently in the Third Crusade, occupied Cyprus in 1191, in which year he entered the Temple of Hymen. Levon II, King of Armenia, attended the wedding ceremony as best man. This same Armenian king lent Richard I a helping hand in the siege of Acre against Salaheddin, Sultan of Egypt, who captured Jerusalem in 1187 A.D.
Armenians pride themselves on the unstinted assistance they gave to the Crusaders from the very beginning, i.e., from 1096 onward. An eloquent proof of their steadfast loyalty is found in the praise which Pope Gregory lavished on the first bearers of the Christian torch, by inserting the following in his Bulls: “. . . In
olden times when the princes and armies of Christendom went to the conquest of the Holy Land, no nation and no people helped them with men, horses, provisions and counsel, with more readiness and zeal than the Armenians . . .” (See this Pope’s Bull ’Ecclesia Romana, 1384).
So glad to be here.
We make pasta, simple sauce and go to bed.
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