Historical and cultural monuments of Shirak region as an important object of cultural tourism

The aim of the research was to find out the existence of more attractive historical and cultural monuments in the territory of the Shirak region, as well as to give them opportunities for tourism use. Another important issue was the assessment of the saturation of historical and cultural monuments of different sub-regions of the Shirak region, which will allow showing the directions with the greatest tourism opportunities in the region.

Keywords. monument, church, tourism, Shirak region, mapping, evaluation, scale, subregion.
We analyzed the literature. Many scientists have done scientific work dedicated to the evaluation of historical and cultural monuments, including N.S. Mironenko, OV Serovan, Yu. A. Vedenin, L.M. Martirosyan and others. We rated the evaluation of the monuments more acceptable, on which works were published by S.V. Sotnikova, N. A. KumovanN.P. Rodnikova, L.M. Martirosyan, and others.
Various literary sources have been the source of information for compiling the map of historical and cultural monuments of the Shirak region.

In order to extract the spatial coordinates of the reference data, we used the Google Earth application, where all the historical and cultural monuments designated for the study area were located. The resulting list, consisting of 141 historical and cultural monuments, was saved as a corresponding output file in kml format.
Most of the mapping was done in ArcMap 10.5 software environment. As a first step, the cartographic basis of the study area was compiled, which includes the territorial boundaries of the Shirak region, the list of traffic and settlements. In order to compile a map of historical and cultural monuments, the above-mentioned kml file was converted to a layered file, after which the historical and cultural monuments were automatically located on the base map based on their spatial coordinates. As a result, a map of the historical and cultural monuments of the Shirak region was made, where 7 main types of monuments appear: monasteries-churches (number 46), mausoleums-stone piles (number 11), castles (number 26), settlements (number 42), sanctuaries (number 5), cave dwellings (number 10) և one bridge – Kharkov bridge over Akhuryan river. Based on the typology, they were also classified and presented with the appropriate symbols. The appendix shows the names of the separated historical and cultural monuments, the serial numbers according to the drawn map.
Numerous historical and cultural monuments have been preserved in the territory of Shirak region: castles, mausoleums, settlements, cemeteries, churches, residential houses, economic structures, etc., the study, classification, and preservation of which allow their purposeful use in scientific, educational, and tourism spheres. Given the fact that the monuments are silent witnesses to the history of the area, reflect the historical path of the area and the people living there, our goal is to address the classification of historical and cultural monuments in the region, which will facilitate their assessment as tourism.
The territory of the Shirak region is the eastern part of Shirak province of “Ayraratsoyts” Ayrarat world. The territory of the region is bordered by Chldir from the north, Yeghnakhagh mountains from the north-west, Akhuryan river from the west, Javakhk plateau from the east, and the northern slopes of Aragats from the south.
The area of the region is rich in historical monuments from almost all periods of humanity, which is a good precondition for the development of this type of tourism. The material in the article will also be useful for guides in organizing historical and cultural tours in the Shirak region.
From the middle of the III millennium (2400-1500) the Middle Bronze Age begins, when Indo-European tribes bearing the culture of early tombs and colored pottery are established in the central-northern regions of the Armenian Highlands. The culture created by them covers the whole Armenian Highland. 70% of the monuments of this era are mausoleums [1, p. 32]. Mausoleums dating back to 61 settlements have been excavated in the areas adjacent to 61 settlements in the Shirak region. a. III-I (Artik, Aghin, Kharkov, Gusanagyugh, Lanjik, Lernakert, Kamo, Karmrakar, Haykavan, Harich, Horom, Hovit, Marmashen, Musayelyan (Akhuryan), Saratak, Spandaryan, Katie, etc.) or Q.A. II-I (Maralik, Azatan, Anipemza, Bandivan, etc.) for millennia [2]. Mausoleums were mostly spread around castles or settlements.
Armenia is one of the regions of the ancient world where the principles of fortifications originated and were formed. The whole territory of the Shirak region is covered with a network of fortresses, in the vicinity of which there are mostly settlements and mausoleums. They are spread on rocky, high, fortified hills and plains between them [3, p. 28].
In the IX century, a united Armenian state covering the entire territory of the Armenian Highlands was formed, the Kingdom of Van or Ararat, becoming one of the most powerful states in Central Asia. Inscriptions, castles, palaces, temples, fortress cities, etc. have reached us from this region. The kings of Van left written records of their invasions and construction works – cuneiform inscriptions, two of which were located in the territory of Shirak region. One of the inscriptions was found in Spandaryan (Ghulijan) village, on the bank of the Karkachun river, on a rock. It was left by Argishti I. The other inscription is the Marmashen cave inscription. Once the necessary environment is created, both protocols can be made available to tourists.
From the IV-VII centuries, we have mainly monumental and religious structures. On the eastern edge of the village of Anipemza in the Shirak region is the Yereruyk temple (St. Karapet) of the V-VI centuries, which is the largest and most valuable of the early medieval structures known to us. It is semi-standing. A 5th-century Greek inscription is preserved on the south-eastern wall of the church. The territory of the Shirak region is rich in developed historical monuments of the Middle Ages (IX-XIV centuries).
The fortress of the same name (X-XIII centuries) is located in the Vahramaberd village of the Shirak region. It is mentioned by Grigor Magistros as a fortified city. The fortress was built on the site of a pre-Christian fortress.
In the village of Gusanagyugh, Shirak region, the ruins of a castle-fortress of the X-XII centuries have been preserved, which the villagers call “Ghulam”. Such fortresses were usually built by the local princes, which is proof that the village was a princely place.
The best examples of civil buildings built in the Middle Ages are the caravanserais, which were built both on the roads and in the cities and near the big monasteries. The ruins of such a caravanserai have been preserved near Ani, on the left bank of the Akhuryan River in the village of Nerkin Jrapi [5, p. “The inland waterfront caravanserai was built on the main road from Georgia, from the northern provinces of Armenia to Ani, and refers to the flourishing period of the city, most probably in the X-XI centuries” [6, p. 38]. The caravanserai of Jrapi village of Shirak region has been moved from Nerkin Jrapi village.
In order to ensure the tourist mastery of the described և classified monuments, it is necessary to use a comparative indicator that would show their number per unit area. We considered it expedient to use the saturation coefficient. Taking into account the size of the territory of the Shirak region, the area occupied by sub-regions, in this article, with certain changes, E.N. The formula proposed by Korchskaya [8]. Unlike Korchskaya, we calculated the saturation of a unit area with the following formula:
Analyzing the results of the assessment, it becomes obvious that the Akhuryan sub-region has the highest index in terms of the number of monuments, and Amasia has the lowest. A different indicator is obtained when evaluating the points of monuments. In this case, the highest indicator is given to the Ani sub-region, which testifies to the diversity of historical and cultural monuments in the region.
Summing up the scientific article, the following conclusions can be made:
Shirak region is rich in historical and cultural monuments, which is a good precondition for the development of tourism.
The monuments are unevenly distributed in the region, the highest density is in the southern sub-regions, and the smallest in the north (Ashotsk) and north-west (Amasia).
Most of the monuments in the region are unknown to tourism companies and are almost never used for that purpose.
By making the necessary investments, as well as increasing access to information, the Shirak region can be made one of the most important destinations for cultural tourism in Armenia.

The article was written by Hermine Sargsyan, a participant in the first round of the “Article Contest” organized by the Restart Gyumri Initiatives Center NGO.

The Armenian article is by the link below – https://www.rgnews.am/?p=3451