Ghegharkunik region

Territory - 5348 sq. km
Population - 272, 4 thousands
Structure - 92 communes, 98 rural settlements
Major towns - Sevan, Martuni, Chambarak and Gavar. The center of the region is Gavar.
The highest peak of the region is 3597 meters (Ajdahak).
 
Lake Sevan (also called Geghama or Gegharkunyac sea)- one of the most beautiful and highest lakes in Armenia-is 60Km away from Yerevan on a highway that cutsnorthward through mountains and rocks. 28 rivers flow into the Sevan. Sevan is so austere and majestic that the gentle turquoise waters are astonishing. They fill gigantic depression situated at the height of almost 2000 m. above sea level. Sevan, with its pure air and sandy beaches, is a popular holiday resort. Sevan has always been famous for its fish “ishkhan” which in Armenian means “prince-fish”. The fish has graced many Lords’ tables in old times. One of the most interesting sites in Sevan is the Monastery on the rocky peninsula founded in874 AD by King Ashot I and his daughter Mariam. On the shores of the lake archeological expedition has discovered traces of a highly developed civilization dating back to 2000 BC. Other monuments include Sevan Monastery (874) and Astvatsatsin Church.
The water level has considerably decreased in recent years due to a number of power stations and irrigation canals built on the Hrazdan River. A tunnel drilled in basalt rocks directs the waters of the Arpa River into Lake Sevan to save it from further shrinking.
  
Noradouz is a “forest of khachkars” (cross-stones), dating as far back as 996. The church of St. Astvatsatsin is also located here. Khachkar or cross-stone is the unique manifestation of Christian Armenian national art, which in its Christian form has no other equivalent in the world.