Sightseeing

SMBATABERD

It is located southeast of the village of Artabyunk (formerly Yeghegis), on the top of the mountain. Looking at the layout of the castle walls/wall thickness of 2-3 m and the large wedge-shaped basalt stones made with lime mortar, the present structure can be dated to the 10th-11th centuries. It is not excluded that it was built during the reign of Smbat II Cosmonaut Bagratun, when the construction of fortification and defense systems experienced a great rise in Armenia.

Many researchers do not rule out that Smbataberd is the Symbace mentioned in the work "Atropatene" by the ancient Greek geographer Strabo, which was part of Atropatene (that's how the Atrapate country was called in Greco-Roman sources) when Armenia was under the rule of the Romans.

Smbataberd is one of the oldest and largest fortresses of Vayots Dzor and Syunik in general. It is likely that it existed even earlier than the 5th century. Having made Yeghegis their administrative and political center, the Vasakians from Syunyat's throne princes probably made Smbataberd their military base.

And during the reign of the Orbelians, Smbataberd was further strengthened. The people traditionally call it Smbataberd, perhaps because one of the crowned knights of Orbelia, King Smbat, who possibly rebuilt the fortress, is buried in the nearby village of Yeghegis. The most probable version is that the castle got its name from the name of the prince Smbat of Syunyats who lived in the 10th century.