Aghavnavank

Aghavnavank — "monastery of the doves" — gives its name to the village that grew around it on a slope south-west of Dilijan. What survives is a single domed church from the turn of the 13th century, plain and sturdy, with a few carved stones set into its walls and a quiet churchyard that the village still uses.

The reason to come, beyond the church, is the forest beside it. The Akhnabat yew grove, part of the national park, protects yew trees that are many centuries old — dark, slow-growing conifers that have all but vanished from the rest of the region. A short walk from the village takes you into their shade; it is one of the stranger and more atmospheric corners of the park, and almost nobody visits.