Jukhtak Vank

"Jukht" means a pair, and that is what you find: two churches, St Astvatsatsin (dated 1201) and the older St Gregory, standing almost side by side in a clearing where the forest closes in on every side. There is no village, no car park worth the name and usually nobody else — just birdsong, moss and the wet-stone smell of the woods.

The churches are small and partly ruined, which is a large part of their charm, and a few khachkars and gravestones lie in the grass around them. Jukhtak is reached by a short forest walk from the road west of town and pairs naturally with Matosavank, a little further along the same hillside, for a gentle half-day in the trees.