Bjni

Bjni lies in the Hrazdan valley with three things worth stopping for: the church of Surb Astvatsatsin, built in 1031 and still the centre of the village, a seventh-century chapel further up, and the remains of a fortress on the cliff above, which was the seat of the Pahlavuni family and is now walls and cisterns among the rocks. The village is also the source of one of Armenia's best-known mineral waters, bottled here since Soviet times.

History

The chronicler Ghazar Parpetsi, of the 5th-6th century, is the first to mention the village, and in the 11th century its lands passed to the Pahlavuni family, King Hovhannes-Smbat made it a bishop's seat, and in 1066 the election of the patriarch was held here; the scholar Grigor Magistros was born in Bjni. The Zakarian family took over the lands early in the 13th century, Timur laid the village waste in 1387-1388, and the French traveller Jean Chardin came in 1673; on the mesa that splits the village sit the remains of the Pahlavuni fortress of the 9th-10th century, with walls, cisterns and the foundation of a 5th-century church (Wikipedia, Bjni).

What you'll find

• Surb Astvatsatsin - the 1031 church at the centre of the village, with carved khachkars set into the walls.
• The fortress - ruined walls, towers and cisterns on the cliff above the village.
• The seventh-century chapel - a small early church on the slope.
• The mineral spring - the source of the water bottled under the village name.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable season. The climb to the fortress is best in spring or autumn; there is no shade. The church is usually open.

Practical notes

The fortress is a scramble up a rough path with nothing marked and little left standing. The village has no facilities for visitors. Most people stop for an hour on the way to Tsaghkadzor.

Nearby

Tsaghkadzor is up the valley, and Yerevan is south.

Key facts