Things to Do in Kotayk: Beyond Garni and Geghard

Almost every visitor to Armenia sees Kotayk, because Garni and Geghard are here. Far fewer see anything else — which means a region packed with medieval fortresses, a ruined monastery on a cliff opposite Garni, hot springs, volcanic peaks and craft villages goes largely unexplored. This guide covers the full range, with the headline sights placed in context rather than repeated at length.

What are the best things to do in Kotayk?

The essentials are Garni Temple and the Symphony of Stones in the gorge below, Geghard Monastery up the valley, and Tsaghkadzor with its ropeway and Kecharis Monastery — each covered in detail in its own guide. Beyond those, the region's rewards are quieter: the hike to the ruined Havuts Tar monastery, the fortress and churches of Bjni, the hot springs at Hankavan, the murals and trails of Meghradzor, and the volcanic Gegham Mountains. Most first-timers spend a day on Garni and Geghard; two or three days opens up the rest.

The headline sights, briefly

Garni — the 1st-century temple on a cliff above the Azat gorge, Armenia's only standing Greco-Roman colonnaded building, with the Symphony of Stones basalt columns below it and lavash baking in the village. Geghard — the UNESCO-listed monastery ten minutes up the valley, with churches carved into solid rock and remarkable acoustics. Tsaghkadzor — Armenia's main ski resort, a year-round ropeway to 2,819 m, and Kecharis Monastery from 1033 beside the lifts.

Each has a full guide on this site. What follows is everything else.

Hike to Havuts Tar

The best thing in Kotayk that almost nobody does. Havuts Tar is a half-ruined walled monastery on a promontory across the Garni gorge — you can see it from the temple — reached by about an hour's walk from Garni or the village of Goght, inside the Khosrov State Reserve (there's a small entry fee).

The complex dates from the 11th to 13th centuries, and its main church, Amenaprkich ("All Savior"), was built in 1013. Monastic life flourished from the 12th to 14th centuries, and manuscripts written here survive from as early as 1214. What remains is substantial: defensive walls, two adjoined churches, monks' chambers, a guest house, vaulted rooms and a wealth of carved inscriptions — all of it empty of visitors, with the gorge falling away below.

There's a neat link, too: Havuts Tar was ruined by the 1679 earthquake, the same one that brought down Garni Temple, and rebuilt in the early 18th century.

Go early in summer — the trail is exposed and gets hot.

Follow the Pahlavuni thread

Here's something that turns a set of separate stops into one story. The Pahlavuni family, the great noble house of 11th-century Armenia, built right across this region:

• Bjni was their seat, and the birthplace of Grigor Magistros Pahlavuni — prince, scholar and linguist
• He built Amenaprkich at Havuts Tar in 1013
• His uncle Vahram Pahlavuni raised Vahramashen Church at Amberd in 1026 (just over the border in Aragatsotn)
• Grigor built Surb Astvatsatsin at Bjni in 1031, on the order of King Hovhannes Smbat
• And in 1033 he founded Kecharis, in what is now Tsaghkadzor

Five sites, one family, two decades. Visit them in that order and the region stops being a list of monuments and becomes a single medieval story — which is exactly the kind of thread a guide can make something of.

Bjni

The quiet alternative to Garni: a village set between canyon walls, with far fewer visitors and a genuine density of history.

Bjni Fortress stands on a rocky mesa above the houses, built mainly in the 9th and 10th centuries by the Pahlavuni family and attacked repeatedly thereafter. It's a short uphill walk to the ruins, with wide views over the village, the river valley and the hills — particularly good toward sunset.

The village churches are worth the time: Surb Astvatsatsin (1031, west of the fortress), the smaller 13th-century Surb Gevorg, and Surb Sargis, a 7th-century church on a rocky outcrop near the cemetery. Bjni also gives its name to one of Armenia's best-known mineral waters.

Soak at Hankavan

Hankavan is Armenia's best-known hot-spring destination — naturally heated mineral water channelled into private bathing pools, some open to the sky, which can be reserved. It sits high in the mountains, and it's the natural end to a day of hiking, skiing or driving in the north of the region.

More broadly, Kotayk is Armenia's mineral-water heartland: Bjni, Arzni, Arzakan, Aghveran and Hankavan all have springs, spa hotels or bathing facilities, a legacy of the Soviet sanatorium era.

Meghradzor

Meghradzor — "valley of honey" — sits between the Tsaghkunyats and Pambak ranges, and has become one of Kotayk's more interesting rural stops. Community projects have covered village walls with murals by Armenian and international artists, giving it a contemporary character quite unlike the monastery circuit.

A walking route leads to the Meghradzor Waterfall, a series of cascades and a small pool, at its best in spring and early summer when the water is high. The Meghradzor Cultural Centre keeps several craft traditions going — carpet and rug weaving, puppet-making and traditional puppetry.

For strong hikers, Mount Artavaz (around 2,929 m) rises nearby — a demanding full-day objective, not a stroll.

The Gegham Mountains

The eastern edge of the region climbs into the Gegham range: extinct volcanoes, high meadows, crater lakes, remote valleys and prehistoric petroglyphs, in red and black volcanic terrain. It's the region's wilderness — best for hiking, 4x4 expeditions, camping and photography.

Mount Azhdahak (3,597 m), the range's highest peak with a crater lake near its summit, is the classic objective, though the summit itself lies just over the border in Gegharkunik. Closer to Yerevan, Mount Hatis is a much more accessible day hike with broad views over the Kotayk plain, and Gutanasar shows visible layers of hardened volcanic material on its upper slopes — one for the geologically minded.

These are serious, seasonal excursions, roughly June to September, and Azhdahak in particular wants preparation and ideally a local guide.

Crafts, food and festivals

Kotayk has a living craft tradition: pottery and ceramics workshops run in Garni and Bjni, where you can work with local craftspeople, and the weaving and puppetry at Meghradzor. Combined with the lavash baking at Garni, this is the part of the region that makes a day hands-on rather than purely observational — and it works especially well with families.

If you're here in midsummer, check the date of Vardavar, Armenia's water festival, when people drench each other in the streets. It falls 98 days after Armenian Easter, so the date moves each year, usually landing between late June and early August. Given Garni's pre-Christian origins, it's among the most fitting places in the country to experience it.

Getting airborne

Two options, both weather-dependent. Paragliding tandem flights operate around Yeghvard, over open highland landscapes. And during Armenia's international balloon festival, Garni has been used as a launch site — aerial views over the temple, the Azat gorge, the Gegham mountains and, in clear weather, Mount Ararat.

Horse riding is available too, with stables around Mankus Eco Park and Dzoraghbyur — a slower way to see the countryside, and good for families.

How to fit it together

• One day (the classic): Garni, the Symphony of Stones, lavash and lunch, then Geghard.
• Two days: add Tsaghkadzor, Kecharis and the ropeway — better continued toward Lake Sevan and Dilijan than doubled back to Yerevan.
• Three days: the quieter half — Bjni and its fortress, Meghradzor, and the hot springs at Hankavan.
• For hikers: Havuts Tar from Garni (half a day), Mount Hatis, or the Gegham range and Azhdahak in season.

By interest: culture — Garni, Geghard, Kecharis, Bjni, Havuts Tar. Nature — the gorge, the Symphony of Stones, the Gegham range, Meghradzor. Adventure — Azhdahak, Artavaz, the Tsaghkadzor zipline, paragliding. Winter — Tsaghkadzor. Wellness — Hankavan, Arzni, Aghveran. Families — lavash baking, pottery, the ropeway, horse riding.

When to go

April–June is best for Garni, Geghard, the gorge, the waterfalls and green landscapes. July–August suits the high mountains and Tsaghkadzor's altitude, though Garni gorge gets very hot at midday — walk early. September–October is the strongest all-round window for hiking, sightseeing and photography. December–March is the ski season at Tsaghkadzor, when high routes close.