Vayots Dzor Region

The province is home to many ancient landmarks and tourist attractions in Armenia including the 8th-century Tanahat Monastery, the 10th-century Smbataberd fortress, and the 13th-century Noravank monastery. Vayots Dzor is also home to the spa-town of Jermuk.

ARENLI CAVE
The world's oldest known wine-making facility has been discovered in southern Armenia, dating back more than 6,000 years (the beginning of the 4th Millennium BC. The excavations occurred between 2007 and 2014 by a team of Armenian, American and Irish archaeologists. The findings include numerous large storage vessels, wine-storage jars, associated pottery and metal implements. The remains of grape seeds found in the jars morphologically were close to domesticated grapevines providing evidence of vine cultivation. Wine storage clay jars combined with the chemical analyses of the organic residues by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) showed the presence of tartaric acid and the red pigment anthocyanin malvidin, left no doubt that the jars had contained red wine.

THINGS TO DO AND SEE IN VAYOTS DZOR
• Hiking Tours at Arpa protected landscape
• Jeep Tours above Noravank, Jermuk hot water springs
• Camping at Artavan (VR / AR)
• Cycling and Horseback riding
• Wildlife Observation (bears) in Shatin and Chiva
• Wildlife Observation (Bezoar Goats) in Noravank area
• Rock climbing and Rope jumping at Noravank Canyon
• Bird Watching at Orbelian's Caravanserai, Gnishik, Smbataberd (April, May, September)
•Areni Wine Fest (October)
•Ecotourism festival (July)
• Gata festival (September)