LAKE SEVAN, ARMENIA
Lake Sevan is a large fresh-water lake in central/eastern Armenia. It's in a dry valley at around 6300 feet above sea level. Several monasteries are above the shores, as well as some mountains.

Looking across the lake from just outside the Hayravank monastery...



View along the shores near the same spot...



Another view from near the Sevanavank monastery...



Boats and a jet ski in the lake at Sevanavank...



Another view...



View of the far northern part of the lake (from the Sevanavank, on a peninsula)...



View towards the town of Sevan (west side of the lake, southwest of Sevanavank)...



Nearby beach...



Large rose bushes were native to this area and (given it was early September) full of rose hips...



Also, sea buckthorns (Hippophae rhamnoides) were very common (and native)...



Sea gulls, like this one, were flying around the lake as well...



Now...here's Sevanavank, built in the 9th century, one of the two monasteries above Lake Sevan...





This monastery is on a peninsula (with most of the lake behind this shot), though this was an island when water levels were much higher (1000 years ago)...



The main building...



View from below the steep hill (with non-native but common Siberian elms in the foreground)...



Inside the two buildings...







Armenian exit sign (pronounced "yelk" in Armenian)...



But we're not exiting Sevanavank yet...here's a pic of tourists (many from Armenia) visiting Sevanavank...



Despite the cold winters, there were these rather exotic-looking Sedum plants on the hill around Sevanavank...





Nearby summer home of the President of Armenia, viewable from very close to Sevanavank...



Nearby was this very odd house (with maybe too good of a view of the lake!)...



Now...to the Hayravank monastery, also built in the 9th century, about 15 miles to the south of Sevanavank...







Inside...





This couple had a wedding at Hayravank!



Leaving the area...this is the freeway that connects Lake Sevan and Yerevan, the capital...





All of the above pictures on this page were taken in September 2013 by Brandt Maxwell.

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