SATURDAY-SUNDAY IN LORI REGION. FIREWORKS TO DO

I started the journey to Lori from Vanadzor. Next to a number of favorite places in the city, new ones appear every time, and there are some in the old ones, for which I can always find time. One of such places is the Vanadzor Museum of Fine Arts located at 52 Tigran Mets Avenue.

DISCOVER!

DAY ONE:

One of the unique samples is Benik Petrosyan’s sculpture “Children’s Sorrow”. After the excursions you can notice candies near the sculpture, which the children leave, thinking that it will make the girl depicted in the sculpture happy.

The three-story building on Tumanyan Square preserves and displays about 1800 museum objects: paintings, sculptures, decorative-applied art, graphics.

The Vanadzor Museum of Fine Arts is named after Vanadzor-based artist Carlos Abovyan, whose works are also on display here and differ from other works in that the artist depicts crosses instead of eyes in portraits.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

The other special places, or more precisely, the symbol of Vanadzor is located on the first floor of one of the high floors of the “Jungle” district, where as soon as the door opens you will find yourself in a special world. Here anyone can become a part of art or craft. The master, who has dozens of students, is engaged in sculpture, painting, khachkar making, graphics and music. You can easily find Master Bogdan, because there is no one in Vanadzor who does not know him. By the way, the master always has half-finished works, which you can complete yourself.

TASTE!

Cycling has become one of the most popular forms of healthy recreation in Vanadzor thanks to the Two Wheels initiative. The tour is a real find for adventure lovers – fresh impressions at every moment. If you want the weekend to be really useful for the soul and body, then go on a bicycle tour to old Vanadzor with routes of Soviet architecture. Nowadays, the number of cycling tourism lovers is increasing year by year. The explanation is very simple: cycling is one of the most enjoyable types of tourism. You can rent bicycles right from Two wheels (“on two wheels”), let me mention that the variety of bicycle tour routes is really great.

Many childhood memories of the rustling of bicycles on a dusty road, the warm wind blowing in their faces. Cycling will revive childhood feelings.

The most important difference between cycling and other forms of active recreation is that cycling is a leader in speed, variety, and length. Are you still considering whether it’s worth visiting or not?

WHERE TO STAY?

DAY TWO

My journey continues From Vanadzor to Tumanyan’s Dsegh, or more precisely, to Sona guest house, where I spent the night. In the morning Mrs. Anahit and I went to the mushroom gathering. I tied the apron, took the basket, and fell in front of Mrs. Anahit, as if I were the specialist. I was going to pick mushrooms for the first time, and as I later realized, not for the last time. Have you ever picked mushrooms? If not, let me inform you that you will enjoy the most interesting, warming, infectious, memorable and calming action. Mrs. Anahit introduces the guests of the guest house to the rich forest products of Dsegh. While picking mushrooms, I learned that it should be cooked with potatoes, and if the potatoes rot, then the mushrooms are poisonous. Mrs. Anahit shared other secrets of the flora.

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WHAT TO DO?

Right next to the Sona guest house is TUC (Unique Tourism Center). Various interesting offers are waiting for the guests here ․ If you are adventurous, then Zilling is for you, if you like intellectual relaxation, Tumanyan games are waiting for you, and if you prefer the combination of nature and architecture, then follow me. There are a number of hiking trips in TUC, we started it from the north-eastern part of the village, where the Holy Terunakan, Sirun Khach khachkar rises. Beneath the lower part of the khachkar is the symbol of the earth – it dates back to the 8th century or can be attributed to an earlier period. We are going down to the ruined church ․ Bardzrakash church, rich in sculptures, with a large number of large inscriptions, which are historical in their kind. And before the church you will pass by Gigor spring,This place is described in Hovhannes Tumanyan’s story “Gikor”.

IT IS INTERESTING!

It is impossible not to visit Hovhannes Tumanyan’s house-museum. The museum preserves about 300 valuable exhibits representing the life and work of the great writer. The museum has two floors, consisting of six rooms. The guides will gladly walk around the museum with you, they will tell stories that you may hear for the first time. This is one of such stories.

Hovhannes Tumanyan died at the age of 54. The autopsy was performed in Moscow, where his son Areg asked to give him his father’s heart and take it to his native village.

“I took a step … I stole my father’s heart. True, you have to be very bold to steal the heart that embraced the whole world, you have to lose yourself a lot to get close, but my heart could not stand it. I stole. Maybe you blame me. It’s okay. May the heart of my holy father be in our house. True, he is not beating, but he has lived with us, after all he is in our heart, and the father’s heart has to be in our house … “

Tumanyan was buried in the Pantheon of the cemetery. For years, his heart was kept in Tumanyan’s closet. One day Avetik Isahakyan visited them, who persuaded his relatives to take his heart to the Museum of Anatomy of the Yerevan Medical Institute. In 1994, his heart moved again and he was buried in the yard of his native house.

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This article was created as part of the My Armenia program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Smithsonian Institution. The contents of this article are those of the authors և and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the Smithsonian Institution or the US Government.