Sevan

The town of Sevan is located on the shores of Lake Sevan 65 km northeast of the capital Yerevan. It is a popular summer resort at a height of more than 1.925 meters above sea level. 

The settlement was founded in 1842 by Russian Old Believers and was called Yelenovka in honour of princess Yelena, the daughter of Russian Tsar Pavel I. It was renamed Sevan in 1935.

What To See in Sevan?

The Sevanavank Monastery of the 9th century located on the Sevan Peninsula is one of the must-see monuments of the country. The two churches of the monastery complex: Surb Arakelots (“Holy Apostles”) and Surb Astvatsatsin (“Holy Mother of God”) represent prominent samples of medieval Armenian architecture. According to an inscription, the churches were built in 874 by Princess Mariam, the daughter of Armenian King Ashot I. 

The legend says that Mashtots Eghvardetsi (a monk who lived as a hermit for ten years in Sevanavank and later became a Catholicos) saw a dream in which the 12 apostles came to him and ordered him to build a church after their name on the island of Lake Sevan. 

Mashtots told his dream to Mariam, who was deeply impressed and decided to fulfil the construction of the churches. The monastery also includes St. Karapet and St. Harutyun churches built by Grigor the Illuminator in the 4th century. 

Excavations revealed that the site of modern-day Sevan was inhabited in the New Stone and Bronze Ages. The cyclopean fortress of Metsep dating back to the 3rd millennium BC and another cyclopean fortress Mashtotsner stand in the neighborhood of the city of Sevan.

In 2004, the Vaskenian Theological Academy of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin was opened on the picturesque peninsula of Lake Sevan.  

When you are in Sevan you can go and visit the Sevan Botanical Garden. It covers an area of 5 hectares at a height of 2000 meters above sea level and is home to more than 600 species of plants. 

In summers the city turns into a popular beach resort with a water park, tennis courts, mini football and basketball fields, and other entertainment facilities. There are a lot of hotels, resort houses, and cottages on the shore. So, you can escape from the hot and sweltering summers of Yerevan and have a good time in Sevan.