Tandzaver
Tandzaver is a small village in Southern Armenia, famous as the first land-art museum in Armenia. There is a beautiful forest where the community built land art pieces that are collectively referred to as Magic Forest.
Understand
Tandzaver is located on a road that before 2021 was not in a good shape and the village enjoyed few visitors. However as of August 2021 the road is undergoing a major renovation and getting wider to become the main road from Goris to Kapan.
The nearest mountain to Tandzaver is Mount Ashkharates (2063 meters), which is kind of a symbol for the locals.
Get in
You can take a taxi from the village of Tatev. There are also numerous trails you can hike to the village by.
Get around
You can walk from one edge of the village to the other in 20 minutes.
See
- 🌍 St. Hripsime Church. Quite well preserved, built in 1705.
- Ruined Church (just above the newer one). It dates to the 5th-6th century. Only two walls remain of it. During the Soviet times, as everywhere in its territory, this church was also used as a storage place and as locals said it was also reportedly damaged adding to what was already a ruined church.
Do
Hike, bike and horseback ride.
- 🌍 Hike the Magic Forest loop (just off the outskirts of the village), ☏ +374 34646913584 (WhatsApp), pegasustandzaver@gmail.com. It's a 5.5-km trail through a very beautiful forest with some interesting land art exhibits on the way. You can ask locals how to go, find the trail on HIKEArmenia free app or even take a guided tour with one of the organizers of this land art 'museum.' They also organized a land-art festival here in 2019 where several international artists created their lasting works of art that you can see today. Paloma speaks English and Spanish.
- 🌍 Hike to Andok Fortress (Vanand Fortress), ☏ +374 93022791 (Bagrat). There is a very hidden and half-ruined (or maybe just overgrown with vegetation and earth) fortress that you can explore in the area. Since it's a bit hard to find, it's perhaps better to take a local guide with you, especially that it's not far away from the border with Azerbaijan. You can also continue for a few kilometers in the same direction and reach a peaceful reservoir named after Davit Bek.
- Hike the Legends Trail and the Transcaucasian Trail. There are two trails that pass by Tandzaver. You can check their respective websites for more info.
Buy
There is one small shop in the village selling necessities.
Eat
You can buy some basic food from a small village shop or eat at local B&Bs.
Drink
There are local homemade fruit vodkas.
Sleep
- Eco Camp Tandzaver.
- Knarik B&B. Basic B&B where you can stay with the locals and order meals in advance.
- Hayk Tunyan B&B.