Abandoned Villages of Vorotan Gorge

There are numerous uncharted places in Armenia that are worth exploring. One of the best examples is Vorotan canyon on the lower part of which several picturesque villages abandoned in the middle of the 20th century are situated. Those villages are rich in historic-cultural monuments and can be observed through the beautiful hiking trails that connect these settlements with each other.

Old Khot

Khot is one of the oldest settlements in the province of Syunik. The village lies on crags, more precisely, inside the crags. In this territory, people adapted the caves formed out of tufa volcanic rock formations, after which, the cave dwellings were expanded by stone made structures, which creates an impression as if houses are rising out of cliffs. The village is located on the left bank of the river Vorotan, at 1500 meters above sea level, surrounded by gardens and inaccessible crags.

The area was inhabited until the 1970s, after which the locals moved from the old village to the north, which is currently known as the village of Khot. In the vicinity of the old village, there are thousands of years old burial grounds (2-1BC), and in the territory of one of them the ruins of the 12th-century Red Monastery have been preserved. The bell of this church had a very loud and powerful chime. According to tradition, this is why the region was called Zangezur which is decoded as “powerful chime”. However, there is also another version, according to which the name of the province is deciphered as “Zangern Izur en” which means “the bell chimes to no avail”. 

According to some historical records, Old Khot was one of the taxpayer villages of the well-known Tatev Monastery Complex, and in 1205 prince Dlen passed the village to the aforementioned monastery. In the north-eastern part of the Old Khot is situated the monastery of Khot, which was constructed in the 5th century. There is also another church in this village called Mrgadzori Khach, built in the second half of the 17th century. According to tradition, this church was assembled by an Armenian woman who managed to escape from the harem of a Persian monarch Shah Abas.   

Photos and video from our previous hikes you can see here – Hike from Old Khot to Old Shinuhayr

Old Shinuhayr

Shinuhayr is another old village of Syunik. This village was also known as Hayrashen, Shinoy-herk, and Shnher. Shinuhayr was a part of the Haband province, and according to Stepanos Orbelyan was the 5th village in the Tatev monastery’s taxation list. Currently, it is still considered to be a large village and is the largest rural settlement in the Syunik region. However, it is worth noting that the village was famous not only for its size and power but also for being rich in material culture. For instance, 6 km to the west of the village, on the right side of the Shinuhayr-Halidzor road, there is a graveyard dating back to the 1st millennium BC, which indicates that the village existed during the Orontid or Van Kingdoms as well.

Old Halidzor

Halidzor village is situated in the province of Syunik, 69 km northwest of the regional center, on the left bank of Vorotan river, at 1300-1350 meters above the sea level. The distance of the village from the town of Goris is 23 km. The present Halidzor was built in 1966.

The name of the village originated from the names of the settlements called Halle and Halis located in the district of Haband. At the beginning of the 10th century, the princess Hamazaspouhi gifted the village to Tatev, and Halidzor remained the estate of the monastery complex until the 17th century.

Harants monastery, the church of Khachin Khut, the village of Old Halidzor, the chapel of Poghos-Petros as well as an old cemetery teeming with Khachkars (cross-stones) are located 2 km south-east of the village.     

Moreover, St. Minas church built in 1611 is also situated in this village and not far from it, is rising the St. Astvatsatsin (the Holy Mother of God) church of Halidzor, the latter is also known as Kusanac Hermitage.

Harzhis

Harzhis is an old village (formerly called Yayji). According to some historical records, it was one of the taxpayer villages of the Tatev monastery. This was a large village on the plateau of Yerablur, 6 km south of the Goris-Yerevan highway. It is surrounded by volcanic hills and mountains from the eastern, western and southern sides. The hardly accessible ridge of Vorotan is rising on the southern side of the village. The footpath that passes through the western edge of the cliff is the only way to reach the village Harzhis.  

The villagers were engaged in cattle-breeding and farming, had trade ties with Nakhijevan, Artsakh, and Gardman. The village was a natural hideaway, which was not visible neither from the plateau nor the road passing through the Vorotan ridge. Harzhis was established in the second half of the 18th century, from 1770 to 1780. Fortunately, the 1931’s earthquake left the village without human casualties, after which the locals moved to the former village of Harzhis, constructed several barracks and settled some of the families there. Later the villagers have built several barns, which were not included in the former plan.

The copyright of this article is owned by armgeo.am. The content of the article may be cited or used on other websites only with an active link to the source.

Blog about Armenia