Vardenik ( hy, Վարդենիկ) is a village in the

Martuni Municipality Gegharkunik ( hy, Գեղարքունիք, ) is a province ('' marz'') of Armenia. Its capital and largest city is Gavar. Gegharkunik Province is located at the eastern part of Armenia, bordering Azerbaijan. It includes the exclave of Artsvashe ...

of the

Gegharkunik Province Gegharkunik ( hy, Գեղարքունիք, ) is a province ('' marz'') of Armenia. Its capital and largest city is Gavar. Gegharkunik Province is located at the eastern part of Armenia, bordering Azerbaijan. It includes the exclave of Artsvashe ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, that sits along the Vardenis River. The cyclopean fort ruins of Kaftarli are located 3 km south of the village, with

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s being present downhill along the bank of the river. Some churches and shrines can be found in the vicinity. The village is the largest rural community in Armenia by population.

Etymology

The village was previously known as ''Gezeldara'', ''Nerkin Gezaldara'', ''Gyuzeldara'' and ''Nizhnyaya Gezaldara''.

History

The village was founded in 1828-29 by emigrants from

Mush In multiplayer online games, a MUSH (a backronymed variation on MUD most often expanded as Multi-User Shared Hallucination, though Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, and Holodeck are also observed) is a text-based online social medium to which mult ...

Gallery

Եկեղեցի Սբ. Աստվածածին, Վարդենիկ գյուղ 07.jpg, St. Astvatsatsin Church Եկեղեցի Սբ. Աստվածածին, Վարդենիկ գյուղ 25.jpg, The medieval cemetery of St. Astvatsatsin Church Եկեղեցի «Իշխանավանք», Վարդենիկ 08.jpg, Ishkhanavank Church Գերեզմանոց, Վարդենիկ, Իշխանավանք47.jpg, Medieval cemetery, Ishkhanavank Եկեղեցի «Ծաղկավանք», Վարդենիկ 01.jpg, Ruins of the Tsaghkavank Church Գերեզմանոց, Վարդենիկ, Իշխանավանք33.jpg, Khachkars Բնության հուշարձան «Քարե ամրոց».jpg, Natural monument "Stone Fortress"

References

External links

* * Populated places in Gegharkunik Province Populated places established in 1828 {{gegharkunik-geo-stub