Noravank is a 13th-century Armenian monastery, located 122 km from Yerevan in a narrow gorge made by the Amaghu River, near the town of Yeghegnadzor, Armenia. The gorge is known for its tall, sheer, brick-red cliffs, directly across from the monastery. The monastery is best known for its two-storey Surb Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) church, which grants access to the second floor by way of a narrow stone-made staircase jutting out from the face of building, one of the earliest examples of cantilever architecture.

The monastery is sometimes called Noravank at Amaghu, with Amaghu being the name of a small and nowadays abandoned village above the canyon, in order to distinguish it from Bgheno-Noravank, near Goris. In the 13th–14th centuries the monastery became a residence of Syunik’s bishops and, consequently, a major religious and, later, cultural center of Armenia closely connected with many of the local seats of learning, especially with Gladzor’s famed university and library.

The Areni-1 cave complex is a multicomponent site, and late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age ritual site and settlement, located near the Areni village in southern Armenia along the Arpa River.

In 2008, Armenian PhD student and archeologist Diana Zardaryan of the country’s Institute of Archaeology discovered the earliest known shoe at the site. In January 2011, the earliest known winery in the world was uncovered in the cave. Later, in 2011, the discovery of a straw skirt dating to 3,900 years BCE was reported. In 2009, the oldest humanoid brain was discovered in the cave.

Three individuals who lived in the Chalcolithic era (c. 5700–6250 years BP), found in the Areni-1 (“Bird’s Eye”) cave were identified as belonging to haplogroup L1a. One individual’s genome indicated that he had red hair and blue eyes.

Agarakadzor is a village in the Areni Municipality of the Vayots Dzor Province in Armenia. Two kilometers from the village is a 13th-century bridge that once served as the main route to Julfa also called as the Sharp Bridge.

Smbataberd is a fortress located upon the crest of a hill between the villages of Artabuynk and Yeghegis in the Vayots Dzor Province of Armenia.

Smbataberd was built in a very advantageous position on the southern end of a ridge, guarded by steep cliffs on three of its sides. Very large ramparts with towers are still relatively intact on the exterior. Within the confines of the fortress little remains except for the faint foundations of buildings near the fortification walls and a keep located at the highest point of the site.

Tsaghats Kar Monastery is a monastic complex located along the mountain foothills overlooking the Yeghegis River, between the villages of Yeghegis (6 km northeast) and Horbategh in the Vayots Dzor Province of Armenia. The monastery is located within walking distance of the fortress of Smbataberd.

There are two groups of structures at the site that are separated by a distance of 200 meters (656 feet). The grouping to the west, now half-ruined, was constructed of rough-hewn basalt.

Within the complex of Tsaghats Kar is Surb Hovhannes church built in 989, Surb Karapet church of the 10th century, and many other structures that are in ruins. Saint Karapet is a cupola hall type structure, with a sacristy in each of the four corners. Numerous khachkars may be seen around the monastery as well.

There is a pipe-spring on the right a little after passing the river.

Spitakavor Monastery is a 14th-century Armenian monastic complex, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of Vernashen village, near the town of Yeghegnadzor of Vayots Dzor Province, Armenia.

Behind fortified walls lies buildings of white shaved (felsite, including the monastery, church, a bell-tower and vestibule.

Its main monument is the Spitakavor Church of the Holy Mother of God (Spitakavor Church of Surp Astvatsatsin). Due to the number of springtime flowers that surround the monastery, it is sometimes called Tsaghkavank (the Monastery of Flowers) by the villagers of Vernashen. An image, described as “a remarkable example of mid-century Armenian sculpture” of Mary (mother of Jesus), is chiseled into the headstone of the church’s entrance. Other interesting artistic works included a sculpture of Jesus with his disciples and a relief of Eachi and his son. The History Museum of Armenia in Yerevan now holds a wall hanging that depicts Prince Hasan. The relief of the prince and his father is at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan better known by his nom de guerre Garegin Nzhdeh; 1 January 1886 – 21 December 1955), was an Armenian statesman and military strategist. As a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, he was involved in the national liberation struggle and revolutionary activities during the First Balkan War and World War I and became one of the key political and military leaders of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1921). He is widely admired as a charismatic national hero by Armenians.

In 1921, he was a key figure in the establishment of the Republic of Mountainous Armenia, an anti-Bolshevik state that became a key factor that led to the inclusion of the province of Syunik into Soviet Armenia. During World War II, he assisted the Armenian Legion of the Wehrmacht in war against USSR, hoping that if Germany succeeded in conquering the USSR, they would grant Armenia independence.