Lake Sevan & Sevanavank Monastery

Lake Sevan is a large lake located in Gegharkunik Province of Armenia. A national landmark, it is by far the largest body of water in the entirety of Armenia, taking up 5% of the country’s territory. It takes up an area of 1,242 square kilometers, and has a maximum depth of 79.4 meters. This lake is so large that there is only one point from which you can see the whole thing, and this is Mount Artanish.

Sevan is one of the three “great seas” of Great Armenia, along with Lake Van and Lake Urmia, which are now in Turkey and Iran respectively. Only Sevan from these three lakes remained in the territory of Armenia, so it is very important for Armenia and is one of the most visited touristic sites of the country.

During the time of the Soviet Union, Lake Sevan was used extensively for water irrigation. The lake was drained over time, losing much of its depth. The peninsula on which rests Sevanavank monastery used to be an island before the water level lowered.

Lake Sevan

The Peninsula

Sevan Peninsula used to be an island. During the soviet times a considerable amount of the water was drained from Sevan. As a result of this, the water level dropped by 20m, leaving the monastery reachable from land. Today, the Armenian government is trying to increase the level of water again. From the territory of the peninsula you can enjoy the colors of Lake Sevan.

Sevanavank Monastery

Lake Sevan is home to Sevanavank monastery, located on the peninsula. There are two churches on the peninsula of Sevan. These two churches were built in 874 AD and together form the Sevanavank Monastery. The architecture of both churches is almost the same. According to historian Stepanos Orbelyan the church was built by Armenian princess Mariam, daughter of the founder of Bagratuni dynasty Ashot I. And grew under the spiritual guidance of Catholicos Mashtots. The king of Armenia Ashot Yerkat used to live in the monastery for a while. Near the walls of the monastery, he gave battle to Arab soldiers who came to the shore of Sevan. The monks of Sevanavank also participated in the battle.

Sevanavank monastery

Legends of Sevan

According to the legend During the battle between Armenians and Arabs and his soldiers were too few in comparison with the Arab army. Even with many monks and fishermen who joined their King, Arabs kept being more in number. Then Ashot Yerkat spoke to one of his wise fishermen and asked for advice. The fisherman lived there for years and knew the peculiarities of weather well. He advised the King to attack the Arabs early in the morning when the sun just starts to rise. The King followed the advice, and led his soldiers in boats towards the Arabs. The sun was behind the Armenian forces and, therefore, blinded the Arabs. Armenians managed to win the battle, after which the lake was full of Arab soldiers. Because of the dead bodies and their uniforms, the lake looked black. Hence, the name Sevan.

You can read more legends about Sevan and other lakes in our article – Legends about Armenian Lakes and Waterfalls.

And here you can find the photos, which show how we’ve spent a day on the sore of lake Sevan.

Photos: Mireille Marsouwanian, Karo Sahakyan, Hripsiime Hovhannisyan, Tigran Shahbazyan