{"id":50135,"date":"2020-02-18T13:00:56","date_gmt":"2020-02-18T09:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.armgeo.am\/vishaps-of-armenian-highland\/"},"modified":"2020-12-01T14:39:30","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T10:39:30","slug":"vishaps-of-armenian-highland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.armgeo.am\/en\/vishaps-of-armenian-highland\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragon Stones of Armenian Highland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dragons in Armenian mythology were called Vishaps. The dragon stones of Armenian Highland are numerous; many of them stand out for their unique ritual and cultural significance. However, before we talk about vishapakars (dragon stones), we need to understand where the name of these stone monuments came from and what dragons represented in ancient Armenian culture. In different cultures, dragons had different meanings and characteristics. For example, Chinese dragons represent wisdom and moral excellence. European dragons are cruel and always hungry. Armenian dragons or vishaps rule the waters, live in lakes, rivers and even in the sky, bringing thunderstorms.<\/p>\n

In some legends, vishap is the spirit of water and wealth. In other legends, it brings disaster and misfortune. Most often, people worshiped vishaps, especially during a drought. They believed that this snake-like animal pointed the places of water by crawling on the ground. And sometimes the dragon itself closed the sources of water, or drained the rivers and lakes.<\/p>\n

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Armenian God Vahagn<\/p><\/div>\n

In Armenia, the main enemy of the dragon was the god of fire, war and storm Vahagn. He fought and killed the vishaps, after which the long-awaited rain began.<\/p>\n

However, the name vishap given to these stone monuments has nothing to do with snake-like dragons from famous European legends. Vishap in Armenian legends is not a specific animal. Vishap is an uncontrollable natural element that can transform into various images.<\/p>\n\n