Exploring Yeghegis Valley

This morning we drove up the very scenic Yeghegis valley to explore. A few of the roads were a bit more then we were prepared to tackle with our rental car with it's worn-out tires. However we saw some awesome places and we were the only people there.

Beautiful scenery

The 13th century Arates monastery

Traffic jam

We parked by the side of the road near Yeghegis, walked along a trail and over the narrow bridge to a medieval Jewish cemetery.

The tombstones date from 1266 to 1497. The origins of this Jewish community are unknown.

Our last stop was in the village of Yeghegis where we parked and walked up a rough road to three old churches.

18th-century St Astvatsatsin church

14th-century Surp Zorats church

View from the church

13th-century Surp Karapet church