Sevanavank

Peninsula monastery above the largest lake in the Caucasus

Area Gegharkunik
Type Monastery
Time needed 1h

Sevanavank is a ninth-century monastery on the Sevan peninsula, 84 km from Yerevan, with two surviving churches on a rise above the lake. When it was founded in 874 the peninsula was an island.

Open in the planner →

Getting there

About 1h30 from Yerevan, well signed from the main highway, with a car park at the base of the steps. Marshrutkas to Sevan town leave you a taxi ride short.

What you see

Surb Arakelots and Surb Astvatsatsin, both of 874, small and dark and built of rough black tuff. A set of khachkars stands between them. The reason to climb is the view: the whole north-western basin of the lake, and on a clear day the Gegham range across the water. A seminary occupies the lower part of the peninsula.

What to pair it with

Hayravank 20 minutes down the western shore is the quieter alternative, and Noratus cemetery is 20 minutes inland. The lake itself is the other half of the day.

When to go

Morning, before the coach parties. Sunset from the top is excellent and the car park is empty by then. Winter has the lake half-frozen and almost nobody there.

What is hard about it

It is around 240 steps to the top, exposed, with no shade. In high summer the peninsula is as busy as anywhere in Armenia, with stalls and crowds on the stairs. The churches themselves are tiny and take ten minutes; people who come only for them find it thin.

Common questions

How many steps are there at Sevanavank?

Roughly 240 from the car park to the churches.

Was Sevanavank on an island?

Yes. It became a peninsula in the twentieth century when the lake level dropped by about twenty metres through irrigation draw-off.

Is Sevanavank or Hayravank better?

Sevanavank has the view and the crowds; Hayravank has neither. Many people prefer Hayravank.