Zorats Karer, also known as Carahunge, is situated in the far south of the country, near the Iranian border. The site is located down a rough 2 km road, surrounded by green fields. Two hundred and twenty-three menhirs dominate the windswept site, scattered in both circular and irregular patterns.
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| Zorats Karer Stone Circle |
Some refer to the ancient site as 'Armenia's Stonehenge', but it actually is over 7,500 years old, predating the UK site by over four thousand years. The other major difference between the two impressive monuments is the stark emptiness of Zorats Karer. I was the only visitor, and even though I wandered around the large stones for over an hour, no one else visited. Of course, there is no admission charge or any limits on where you can wander.
Archaeologists and Scientists are in a major dispute about its purpose. Some see it as an ancient observatory, holes drilled into many of the menhirs align with the sunrise and sunset on the solstice and it may have been an astronomical calendar. However, recent excavations have revealed many tombs under the stones, which more likely makes Zorats Karer a mausoleum.
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| A smaller Stone Circle at Zorats Karer |
One of the downsides of increasing knowledge and discussion of the megalithic site, and its disputed astronomical links to Stonehenge, is that neo-pagans in Armenia and elsewhere have adopted the site for colourful and noisy ceremonies on the solstice, with reports of damage and littering. This may, unfortunately, lead to harder access for non neo-pagans in the future.
Lake Sevan, the largest lake in Armenia as well as the Caucasus, takes up over a sixth of the land mass in Armenia. It still dominates the country's economy in providing hydropower, tourism and almost all of the fish consumed there. Although it also provided water to much of the industry located on its shores in Soviet times, it has some pretty appalling levels of heavy chemical pollution (Do not eat fish if you ever visit Armenia!).
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| The K'anaker Stone Circle with Lake Sevan and the mountains of Azerbaijan |
With an abundance of resources, it not surprisingly supported humans during megalithic times, and a notable collection of stone circles can be found around its shore. The K'anaker archaeological site is one of the most interesting, a collection of stone circles on a hill above the shoreline. A Christian chapel has been built on the edge of the circles.
Half the fun is driving down the rutted track to the collection of houses where the road ends. Stay well clear of the farm dogs who take an interest in any visitors and continue to the top of the hill where the circles stand in a beautiful position above the lake and with the snow-capped mountains of Azerbaijan in the distance.
The Stone circles could do with restorative work and a little excavation to show their true size, much of which is hidden below the current land, but few have been damaged or removed and the position and vista make K'anaker a beautiful spot, and again totally empty except for the odd farm dog and wandering sheep.
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| Looking down one of the Hartashen Avenues to the small village of Hartashen in the distance |
Armenia is small, and it takes less than four hours to drive from the eastern border with Azerbaijan to the northwest border, close to Turkiye and Georgia. Most of the population lives in the capital, Yerevan, so much of the countryside is deserted. The country has struggled economically since the breakup of the Soviet Union, which helps explain why its archaeological treasures remain unexcavated and mainly unknown.
In the farming highland areas close to the Georgian border, lies perhaps Armenia's best Megalithic monument, the Hartashen Megalithic Avenue. This is a world-class archaeological site but remains little known and rarely visited. This is unlikely to remain the case for long. A new road is being built to replace the potholed mud and gravel single-track road to the Hartashen village nearby. Maybe signage and more promotion of the site may follow, maybe not, as this is Armenia.
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| The Hartashen Avenues dominate the farmland above the village |
There are no tours to the site or public transport, so you need to hire a car and take your time on the poor roads to visit Hartashen. Park in the small village and walk for about twenty minutes past fields and abandoned farm buildings until you reach the Megalithic Avenue. Deserted and breathtaking, the neatly laid out towering rows of stone pathways appear before you at right angles, one heading up to the hills and one along the flat, bisected by a small stream.
There has been some damage by tractors hitting stones as they drive to higher fields nearby, as well as menhirs that have toppled over, but most of the site is untouched and unexcavated. With only very minimal archaeological investigations occurring in recent years, the unique and wild site has many secrets to be uncovered. The two avenues of mainly basalt menhirs each have three rows; the limited investigation so far suggests that many rise above three metres in height.
Locals originally believed it had been built by the Soviets as a Tank Trap. We are close to the border with Georgia, but their age is far older, maybe 6,000 to 8,000 years old. As with much about Hartashen, this has yet to be properly defined.
It could have been built for astronomical uses, as a mausoleum, or maybe as a site for massive ceremonies to the gods of the time. If he had known about it, the extraterrestrial 'Scientific' author Erich Von Daniken would have undoubtedly çlaimed it as an Alien landing strip.
The locals do not value it, as yet. Tractors have smashed through the avenues in a number of places to make farming tracks to the fields in the hills above, leaving splintered menhirs in the ground around. National Monument status would be a good place for the Armenian government to start.
There is so much more to learn about the Hartashen Avenues, and hopefully, more will be discovered in the coming years. In the meantime, it remains an incredible place to visit and walk around, unimpeded by defined paths and ropes, ticket booths, or even another human. It is the most breathtaking megalithic monument I have visited.
