Stepanavan Dendropark

The dendropark was begun in 1931 by the Polish engineer Edmund Leonowicz around an existing stand of natural pine, and it now covers about thirty-five hectares with more than five hundred species introduced from other parts of the world alongside the native forest. Paths run through mixed plantings, a pond and the original pine wood. It is a quiet place and among the greenest in Armenia, which in a largely dry country is the point.

History

The Polish engineer and forester Edmund Leonowicz founded the arboretum in 1931, and its collection spread along new paths and vistas into the natural forest, thought to be the first place in the Transcaucasus where a natural forest was reshaped into a forest park. Most plants came through exchanges with the botanic gardens of Tbilisi, Kyiv, Nikitsky in Crimea, Leningrad and Moscow and from the Far East, others from Germany, France, Portugal, China and the United States, and it now has more than 500 introduced species (Wikipedia, Stepanavan Dendropark).

The landscape

• The natural pine stand - the original forest the park was planted around.
• The introduced species - several hundred trees and shrubs from other continents.
• The pond - a small lake with paths running around it.
• The pine avenues - shaded walks through the older planting.

When to go

May to October is the season, with autumn colour in late October the best of the year. Summer here is cooler than the lowlands, which makes it a hot-weather escape. Winter closes most of the paths.

Practical notes

Labelling of species is patchy and mostly in Armenian and Latin. Maintenance varies between sections and some areas are overgrown. There is little to do beyond walk.

Nearby

Lori Berd is near Stepanavan, and Trchkan waterfall is south.

Key facts