In his book “Travel Notes”, Qajberuni (Gabriel Ter-Hovhannisyan) wrote about mount Shreshtasar:
“From the eastern side of Yelpin village rises a cone-shaped hill. On the top of that hill, one can see the remnants of an old fortress. The current name of this fortress is Mount Shresht. The name comes from the plant called shresht (Eremurus) that grows on the hill. Besides Yelpin, there are four more settlements built on ruins and populated by Turks. These ruins are mainly the remnants of churches and gravestones”.
Shresht Gorge
The pond in Vartanes village
In Vartanes village there is a remarkable pond. It has naturally high banks and only the southern bank has a pipe. This pond received water from the spring that originated from its bottom and from a river flowing nearby. This means that there was a large reservoir, which at times was used to irrigate the field stretching from Heshin village to Chiva village.
The names of the villages surrounding the Shresht Hill are unknown. We cannot explain this, as we do not have any historical information. However, we can make a suggestion about Mount Shresht and the villages of Yelpin and Vartanes. Historian Stepanos Orbelian tells us that Ivane Atabek, the brother of Zakare Spasalar, after ruining the kingdom of Baghk, brought and settled one of the prince’s sons in Vayots Dzor and proclaimed his homeland the fortress Nrbuin.
Mount Shreshtasar
In what part of Vayots Dzor are the Nrbuin and Vardenik fortresses now? Having received no historical and geographical information about this from Orbelian, we believe that the ruins on the top of Mount Shresht are the remains of the Nrbuin fortress. Where did the present village Yelpin get its name from? Vardenik is perhaps the current village of Vartanes. These two villages are included in Orbelian’s list. Considering the fact that Turks have the habit of turning the Armenian names into Turkish, it can be assumed that the names Nrbuin and Vardenik could have changed in the same way as Aghavnadzor, Yeghegis, Arates, Yeren and many other villages changed.
Mount Shreshtasar
“The narrow road that passes through the eastern slopes of Mount Shreshtasar has an impressive shape. The traveler will see the top of the mountain above and the rocky gorge at the foot. From there starts another mountain range with rocky cliffs.
They say that once there was a treasure hidden in Mount Shreshtasar. Many people have searched for it, but no one could find it.
Qajberuni (Gabriel Ter-Hovhannisyan)
Shresht Gorge
I started to climb Mount Shreshtasar from Yelpin village. Mount Shteshtasar is not so high, but the ascent is rather difficult. The cliffs are steep and you have to climb in some parts.
Qajberuni was here at the end of 19th century and I strongly doubted whether there were any traces of the fortress here or not. I was surprised to notice the line of the wall.
From the top opened an amazing view of Qarkatar Mountains, Shresht gorge and Yelpin village.
After I photographed the remains of the walls of the fortress, I went down to Vartanes. Now there were only 2-3 houses here. People breed fish in the pond, and not far from here lives the guard of the pond with his family. I talked with the hostess and she told me that they were from Chiva village and were living there temporary. She said that there is a fortress on the top of the mountain that they call Nrbuyn. I found out that there were also ruins of a church, millstone and cemeteries.
Tigran Shahbazyan
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
