Haghpat Monastery
Monastery, 10th–13th c.
A UNESCO-listed monastery village above the Debed, founded in the 970s by the Bagratid queen Khosrovanuysh.
Lori / Regions
Debed Canyon
Դեբեդի կիրճ
A deep basalt gorge with a medieval monastery on almost every shelf.
The Debed river cuts north from Vanadzor towards Georgia through a canyon several hundred metres deep. The road, the railway and the river run along the bottom; the villages and their monasteries sit on the plateaus above — Odzun, Dsegh, Haghpat, Sanahin, Akhtala. Alaverdi, the old copper town, fills the narrowest part of the gorge. This is the part of Lori most people come for, and the easiest to see without a car.
In this part of Lori: 129 sights, 79 places to stay, 36 places to eat, 106 natural sites.
- Rivers
- Debed, Gargar, Pambak, Alarex, Dzoraget
- Alaverdi by car
- 2 h 50 from Yerevan, 2 h 08 from Tbilisi
Filter this area on the Explore map
Towns and villages
Don't miss
Sanahin Monastery
Monastery, 10th–13th c.
Haghpat's older twin across the gorge, famous for its school of calligraphy and illumination.
Odzun Church
Church, 5th–7th c.
An early domed basilica on the canyon rim, with a funerary monument unlike any other in Armenia.
Akhtala Monastery
Fortress monastery, 10th–13th c.
A fortified monastery whose church is covered, wall to wall, in early-13th-century frescoes.
Sanahin Bridge
Bridge, late 12th c.
A single stone arch over the Debed, guarded by carved cats, in the middle of Alaverdi.
Kobayr Monastery
Monastery, 12th c.
A half-ruined monastery hanging on the canyon wall above Tumanyan, with fragments of frescoes.
Horomayr Monastery
Monastery, 13th c.
Two groups of churches on the cliffs just south of Odzun.
Kayan Fortress
Fortress, 13th c.
A small fortress on a spur below Haghpat that once protected the monastery.
Hovhannes Tumanyan House Museum
Museum, 19th c.
The childhood home of Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenia's national poet and storyteller, in Dsegh.
Mikoyan Brothers Museum
Museum, 20th c.
The Sanahin home of Anastas Mikoyan and of Artem Mikoyan, co-designer of the MiG jets.
Walks
- Haghpat to Sanahin Half a day, moderate
- Kobayr cliff path 1 hour return, short but steep
- Odzun rim walk to Horomayr 1–2 hours, easy