Vardenis
Vardenis is a town in the Vardenis Municipality of Gegharkunik Province, Armenia.
It is in the Masrik River valley, on the territory of the Masrik artesian basin at 2,006 metres above sea level, near the southeastern shores of Lake Sevan. It is 170 kilometres by road east of the capital Yerevan, and 75 kilometres southeast of the provincial centre Gavar. The administrative territory of Vardenis comprises 3,006 hectares, of which 736 hectares is occupied by the town itself. Vardenis obtained its status as an urban settlement in 1995. In the 2011 census the population was 12,685, and in the 2022 census it was 12,466.
Getting to Vardenis
Marshutnis depart from Yerevan a few times a day. Taxis are an alternative, at 100 dram/km. If you are in Southern Armenia wanting to get to Lake Sevan, you should take the shortcut from Yeghegnadzor to Martuni - saving yourself a huge and unnecessary loop via Yerevan.
Worth seeing
There is a nice church in the center of the city. In the hills, there are a couple of chapels and fun khachkars by Ayrk.
- 01Makenyats Monastery
A medium-sized monastery by the river in Makenis village, west of Vardenis.
- 02Vanevan Monastery
A small monastery that has been restored by the river in a village of the same name, west of Vardenis.
Things to do
Hike, camp, swim. Janapar Trail. Vardenis was the end of the Janapar, a hiking trail mostly in Karabakh. The status of the trail is uncertain since the Azerbaijani takeover of the region from 2020.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Armenak Margarian (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.