THE SISIAN TRAVELOGUE
Joseph Dagdigian
Published: Wednesday May 09, 2012
Moving the rocks in place at Karahunj. Joe Dagdigian
Sisian is in Siunik province, southern Armenia. I guess it’s a few
hours’ drive from Yerevan, though I don’t know for sure because we
stop at so many interesting places along the way. Sisian is perhaps
best known for Karahunj, also known as Zorats Kar (stone soldiers)
and believed to be an ancient astronomical observatory, and nearby
Tatev (Datev) Monastery.
Sisian In Sisian we arrived at the Basen Hotel, a no-frills but
very comfortable hotel a 5-minute walk from the center of town. The
hotel consists of five two story buildings with rooms on both
floors. There are a total of 15 – 20 rooms. The restaurant is in a
separate building. The food was excellent and our hostess Hasmik was
extremely knowledgeable and helpful. She was of immense assistance
in allowing us to make the most of our time during two visits to
Sisian. There are other hotels in Sisian as well, though I can not
comment on them as I have not stayed at them.
Sisian art school Within a few minutes walk from the hotel are the
Sisian music and art schools. The art school conducts classes after
regular school hours.
Classes include painting, embroidery, sculpture, and other subjects at
very low cost for students. The painting instructor, Ashot Avagyan,
is a well known painter who has an encyclopedic knowledge and love
of Sisian and its surroundings. While he conducted a tour of the
school, displaying some of his own and his students’ paintings, we
were interrupted by former students paying him a visit. Immediately
obvious was the close bond established between these young Armenian
artists and their mentor, Ashot Avagian. Many of these students are
now budding artists in their own right. Within the hallway are works
of the students, some of which are for sale. These include beautiful
works of embroidery as well as paintings of a number of subjects
including nature scenes, people, and images of the Karabagh war which
undoubtedly influenced the students through the experiences of older
family members. Despite a low tuition, often students’ families can
not afford the tuition or art supplies. When he can, stated Avagian, he
helps the students with these issues. My friend and traveling companion
Mesrob Odian and I made a small donation to help in such circumstances.
Sisian music school Upon returning to the Basen hotel from the center
of town, our hostess Hasmik informed us that the Sisian Women’s Choir
was having a “practice” at the music school. It soon became evident
that this was more a performance than a practice. Accompanied by
a piano the chorus sang Armenian folk songs by Gomidas and other
composers. When I was a child, my mother Betty Dagdigian, was the
piano accompanists for the Armenian National Choral Society of Boston,
directed by Anahid Keshishian . I would often accompany my mother
to practices and would be amazed at the beautiful songs and sounds
produced by the choral society. The Sisian Women’s Chorus replicated
this experience. It was an emotional flashback to a wonderful
experience which has remained with me always. Like the art school,
the music school teaches music to interested children after normal
school hours. Like the art school, they are handicapped by a lack of
resources including instruments, computers, and the availability of
music. Here also my friend and traveling companion Mesrob and I made
a small donation.
On an encouraging note, since then Mr. Berge Jololian of Watertown,
with some friends, has established a program to provide Sisian’s
and neighboring villages’ schools with computers and internet access
which until then they have lacked.
Karahunj On our subsequent visit a year later our host Hasmik
informed us of a ceremony in progress at Karahunj. We arrived as
a crowd of people was gathering across the road from the ancient
astronomical observatory, probably predating Stonehenge, to inaugurate
a miniature replica of Karahunj organized by Ashot Avagyan. Avagyan,
besides teaching painting, is intimately tied to Sisian’s land and
it turbulent struggle for liberty and millennia old history and
culture. He, with a group of sturdy Sisiantsis, moved into place the
final large stone of the circle. With a band playing and a few speeches
consecrating the modern replica of the ancient site across the road,
visitors were invited to spend a minute in the central focal point of
the stone circle to commune with the forces of the universe. Each of
us who did so were awarded a certificate guaranteeing us the right
to be buried at Karahunj! My wife Lisa coldly informed me that if I
wished to be buried at Karahunj, I would have to die at Karahunj.
Karahunj is believed to be an ancient astronomical observatory,
perhaps with strong religious and spiritual connotations. While
dating of the site is uncertain, some believe it to date back as
early as 5,000 B.C. At the center of a ring of standing stones are
the ruins of what is believed to have been a small temple, perhaps a
Zoroastrian fire temple. On a roughly north-south axis are a line of
other stones bisecting the circle. In total there are 204 standing
stones, some 5-6 feet tall. A number of these stones are pierced,
perhaps to view the alignment of stars and planets at certain times
of the year. The field of Karahunj is on a slight rise above most of
its immediate surroundings which somehow imparts a hard to describe
mystical feeling that one is close to the heavens, despite the fact
that the surrounding hills and mountains are much higher. It is easy to
visualize how our ancient ancestors found spirituality in this place.
Oughtasar Looking roughly north across the highway from Karahunj, one
sees the twin peaks of Oughtasar (Camel Mountain). After a 45 minute
bone jarring jeep ride up the mountain, past an interesting field
of rocks (I believe remnants of an extinct volcano), one comes to a
little lake below the peaks. On one side of the lake in ancient times
were deposited large slabs of dark stone upon which the ancients drew
numerous petroglyphs or stone drawings of snakes, serpents, people,
and animals. I’ve been told or have read that these drawings date
from 200 to 2,000 B.C., but an archaeologist friend indicated that
in fact nobody really knows their age. During my second trip here,
as part of a hiking expedition, we camped next to the lake. Though
we were in t-shirts during the day, as soon as the sun set it got
cold. In the morning there was ice along the lake shore. This was
July. The mountains upon which we hiked were pristine, with patches
of snow here and there where the ground was shaded by the peaks. The
ground was stone rubble, or thick grass, sometimes with boulders
hidden by the grass and, on occasion, covered with a few inches of
snow though the day time temperature was quite warm.
Siuni Vank A 15 minute walk from the Basen Hotel through the center
of town brings one to the Saint Hovhannes church, built on the
site of an original pagan temple in the 4th C. The current church,
which replaced an older one, dates to the 600s and was originally
part of a monastery, Siuni Vank, which was a center of learning and
culture during medieval times. There are a number of inscriptions
on the church. In the church’s niches are sculptured portraits of
clergy and members of Siunik’s princely family members who were
responsible for the construction and protection of the church. The
day after photographing the church I returned, realizing that I
had overlooked photographing one aspect of its construction. In
medieval times stone masons would leave their unique “mason marks”,
inscribed patterns indicating the identities of those who physically
built the structure, on churches. Upon my return the caretaker of the
church, Zaven, immediately asked where I was from. Answering Boston,
he immediately exclaimed “Ahhh, General Dro was buried in Boston”,
referring to General Dro Kanayan who commanded the battle of Bash
Aparan in May 1918. Together with the battles of Karakillese and
Sardarapat, the Armenians stopped the invading Turkish army from
eliminating the Armenians remaining in the Caucasus and resulted
in the Independent Republic of Armenia on May 28 of that year. The
gentleman then proceeded to relate the last 100-200 years of Siunik’s
resistance to foreign domination, often pointing at the mountains or in
directions where Armenians clashed with invaders. When questioned on
“mason marks” he showed me a number of them. Of all the churches in
Armenia, he stated, Siuni Vank has more mason marks than any other
structure in Armenia – a total of 39. These marks are the personal
signs of masons recording their accomplishments. Some are in the
shapes of Armenian letters, while others are geometrical patterns
such as stars, crosses, hour glass shapes, etc.
Underneath the pavement in front of the church are remains of a
pre-Christian Zoroastrian fire temple. Of more recent origin is an
adjacent cemetery containing the graves of local casualties from the
Karabagh war.
Aghudi South-east of Sisian is the village on Aghudi. Within the
village is a 1,500 or so year old monument consisting of 3 columns
standing upon a structure which perhaps was a mausoleum. This is
a very unusual style of monument in Armenia, the only other known
example being at the Odzun church in northern Armenia. The monument’s
purpose is unknown but speculation is that it may have been a memorial
to fallen comrades erected by the retreating veterans of the Battle
of Avarayr in which Armenian national hero Saint Vartan Mamikonian
was killed in 401 A.D.
Others speculate that this was a tomb to princely family members in
Siunik. Adjacent to the monument is a circular foundation, perhaps
the remnant of a circular church similar to Zvartnots near Echmiadzin
or the circular chapels in the medieval Armenian capital of Ani,
across the Armenian – Turkish border.
Vorotnavank A short distance from Aghudi, at an isolated part of
the Vorotan River valley, is beautiful Vorotnavank. The monastery,
surrounded by a defensive wall, contains two churches, Soorp Garabed
and Soorp Stepanos, as well as a gavit or assembly hall built
between years 1000 and 1007. Like many other monasteries in Armenia,
Vorotnavank was captured by the Seljuk Turks only to subsequently be
liberated by the Zakarian brothers, Ivane and Zakare, who were in the
service of Queen Tamara of Georgia. Ivane liberated Vorotnavank and the
nearby fort of Vorotnabert and turned them over to Liparat Orbelian of
the famous Orbelian family of princely rulers. Vorotnavank was a center
of medieval learning together with other monasteries in Siunik. Near
the monastery are elaborately carved gravestones graphically portraying
events which perhaps are episodes from the life of the deceased. A
spectacular view of the monastery, the Vorotan Valley, and nearby
mountains can be obtained from the top of the adjacent hill.
Angeghakot Upon our arrival at Angeghakot we visited a small cemetery
near the town’s center. There were buried Armenian freedom fighters who
died defending Siunik around 1906 -probably fighting under the command
of General Keri, or perhaps General Antranig or Njdeh. One of the
tombstones portrays a soldier, standing erect, with his rifle at his
side. The people of Siunik have always been fiercely independent and
to this day can relate the struggles they endured for their freedom.
We then proceeded to a small hill upon which an archaeological
excavation was being conducted. Two pits, about 10 feet deep,
revealed ancient foundations and artifacts from the copper or bronze
age (roughly 6,000 – 3,000 BC). Just exposed that day or the previous
evening was a human skeleton. Archaeologists were delicately uncovering
the bones with soft brushes. I asked the head archaeologist if she
had dated the site. She responded that the site was believed to
be from the chalcolithic (copper) age, but obviously they had not
yet carbon dated the human remains. Within the region are a large
number of bronze and iron age remains as documented in English by
Onik Xnkikyan Syunik During the Bronze and Iron Ages, translated by
Vatche Ghazarian, Mayreni Publishing, 2002.
Just outside town is Soorp Vartan church, dated around 1298. The church
is crudely built half into the side of a small hill. Local tradition
has it that this is the burial site of Saint Vartan Mamikonian, the
sparabed or general who led the defense of Armenia’s Christianity
against the Sassanid Persians in the Battle of Avarayr 451 AD. Vartan
died heroically in the battle in which the outnumbered Armenians
lost to the Persians, though the Armenians extracted a high price. A
guerilla war ensued for the next 3 decades under the leadership of
Vartan’s nephew Kayl (Woolf) Vahan causing the Persians finally to
guarantee Armenia’s freedom of religion. Yearly, on St.Vartanantz Day,
there is a procession to this shrine. I am told this was the only
public religious procession permitted in Armenia during the Soviet
era. It should be noted that there are a number of sites reputed to
be the final resting place of St. Vartan.
Kndzoresk Heading east from Sisian there is the village of Khnsoresk
on the right shortly before entering the Lachin Corridor towards
Artsakh (Karabagh). Passing through the village one arrives at a
deep gorge with vegetation on its slopes and easy to follow paths
leading into the gorge. Along the slopes of the gorge are naturally
occurring caves in which Armenians have carved homes, factories,
bakeries, and churches. People lived in these homes, I am told, until
the 1940s. The cave dwellings had windows carved out of the stone,
and entrances were squared off to allow doors. Holes in the roofs
served as chimneys. A group of us, guided by superb guides from
Avarayr Tours in Armenia, hiked down one side of the gorge and up
the opposite side. We encountered a cheese factory with large vats
carved from the stone, a spring (the water was cold and delicious),
three churches, and a bakery with tonirs (barrel shaped clay pits set
in the ground in which bread was baked). During the hike we enjoyed
wild ripening blackberries. At the bottom of the gorge was the barely
recognizable foundation of an ancient church (perhaps as old as the
4th C) and the Pantheon – a handful of graves with gravestones intact.
Among the graves was that of Mkhitar Sparabed, David Beg’s military
commander in the 18th C struggle against Persia and the Ottoman Empire
in Zangezur (southern Armenia). Upon the death of David Beg, Mkhitar
Sparabed assumed the leadership of the armed struggle but was killed
by a traitor who presented the Persian shah with Mkhitar Sparabed’s
severed head. The traitor expected a reward. The Shah responded
“If you would do this to your own people, I can only imagine what
you would do against me” and had the traitor executed.
Conclusion I’ve described a small fraction of the interesting sights
to be seen.
Sisian is a rich repository of Armenian history and culture with
beautiful scenery and welcoming people. Other than Karahunj and the
Datev Monastey (which is well worth a visit), relatively few people
visit other nearby sites. Sisian is an interesting and rewarding area
to explore, with ample documentation available in books and on-line.
Sisian, Siunik, and especially its people have won a place in our
hearts.
References A great resource for exploring Armenia is the book
Rediscovering Armenia by Brady Kiesling and Raffi Kojian. This book is
freely available on-line, from the National Association of Armenian
Studies and Research (N.A.A.S.R.) in Belmont, MA, and in Armenia at
the Artbridge Bookstore. The English version of Syunik During the
Bronze and Iron Age is available from N.A.A.S.R.
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