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70-610: Sotk ( Armenian : Սոթք ) is a village in the Vardenis Municipality of the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia , well known for its gold mines. According to J. Markwart and N. Adonts , the name Sotk may be connected to the name of a tribe called Tsavde ( atsvots ) mentioned in ancient Armenian sources, while others connect it with the toponym Suta (or Shuta ) of the Hittite sources (the presence of

140-520: A consistent Proto-Indo-European pattern distinct from Iranian, and that the inflectional morphology was different from that of Iranian languages. The hypothesis that Greek is Armenian's closest living relative originates with Holger Pedersen (1924), who noted that the number of Greek-Armenian lexical cognates is greater than that of agreements between Armenian and any other Indo-European language. Antoine Meillet (1925, 1927) further investigated morphological and phonological agreement and postulated that

210-424: A large ancient settlement are visible, from where a grass-covered path led to the mine (in 1954, this path would be turned into a road for miners). The river valley is covered by artificial oval terraces which steep from the side towards the river flow. West of Sotk, around the nearby town of modern Vardenis , are some cyclopean fortresses, with corresponding cemeteries from the 2nd and 1st millennium BC, among which

280-468: A loan from Armenian (compare to Armenian եւ yev , ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi ). Other loans from Armenian into Urartian includes personal names, toponyms, and names of deities. Loan words from Iranian languages , along with the other ancient accounts such as that of Xenophon above, initially led some linguists to erroneously classify Armenian as an Iranian language. Scholars such as Paul de Lagarde and F. Müller believed that

350-468: A military post at the mine. The Armenian defense ministry refuted this account, stating that Azerbaijani forces, having found an Armenian border checkpoint unacceptable, contacted the Armenian side via loudspeaker and negotiated with Russian peacekeepers over the issue. Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities started to demarcate the border on the same day. Armenian military authorities then stated that half of

420-425: A network of schools where modern Armenian was taught, dramatically increased the rate of literacy (in spite of the obstacles by the colonial administrators), even in remote rural areas. The emergence of literary works entirely written in the modern versions increasingly legitimized the language's existence. By the turn of the 20th century both varieties of the one modern Armenian language prevailed over Grabar and opened

490-465: A result of the shelling; people were displaced from their homes. Located in the valley of the Masrik River at an elevation of 2006 meters above sea level, Vardenis is dominated by the 82-kilometre (51 mi) range of Vardenis mountains. The highest peak of the range is Mount Vardenis at 3,522 metres (11,555 ft) above sea level, located around 23 km southwest of Vardenis town. The town

560-530: A result of the shelling; people were displaced from their homes. A gold mine near the village, called Sotk (Zod), is one of the largest gold deposits in the South Caucasus . It is located on the border of Kalbajar District in Azerbaijan and Gegharkunik Province of Armenia . Kalbajar District was administrated by the breakaway Republic of Artsakh from its control by Armenian forces in 1993 after

630-976: Is Tsovak , where there is a cuneiform inscription by Urartian king Sarduri II . To the north is a settlement of the Kura-Araxes culture . Many other such ruins can be found near Sotk such as in Chambarak , indicating the Lake Sevan basin was a significant region, controlled from centers like Ishtikuni ( Lchashen ) and confederations of chiefdoms, such as the Uduri-Etiuni and Uelikuni (both of which seem to have been Armenian etymologically) mentioned in Urartian sources. Elite tombs in Lchashen were rich with gold, which, according to metallurgical analyses, would have derived from Sotk. At some point during

700-589: Is a town in the Vardenis Municipality of the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia . It is located in the valley of the Masrik River, on the territory of the Masrik artesian basin at 2,006 metres (6,581 feet) above sea level , near the southeastern shores of Lake Sevan . It is 170 kilometres (110 miles) by road east of the capital Yerevan , and 75 kilometres (47 miles) southeast of the provincial centre Gavar . The administrative territory of Vardenis comprises 3,006 hectares (7,430 acres), of which 736 hectares (1,820 acres)

770-553: Is also bordered by the Sevan mountain range to the north. Vardenis is approximately 6 kilometres (4 mi) away from the southeastern shores of Lake Sevan . Vardenis is 1,943 metres (6,375 feet) above sea level, with mild summers and cold winters. The average winter temperature is −6 °C (21 °F). The winter lasts for six months, with sub-zero temperatures prevailing. The snow falls in November and melts in mid-April. Vardenis

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840-508: Is also home to the house-museum of Viktor Hambardzumyan whose father philologist "Hamazasp Hambardzumyan" was a native of Vardenis. Lernagorts Vardenis FC was the only football club of that represented the town in domestic competitions. They played their home games at the Vardenis City Stadium located at the western edge of the town. However, the club was forced to dissolve in 1995 due to financial difficulties. Vardenis

910-552: Is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages . It is of interest to linguists for its distinctive phonological changes within that family. Armenian exhibits more satemization than centumization , although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups. Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian ), Albanian and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other; within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian

980-561: Is clearly the dialect to be most closely related to Armenian. Eric P. Hamp (1976, 91) supports the Graeco-Armenian thesis and even anticipates a time "when we should speak of Helleno-Armenian" (meaning the postulate of a Graeco-Armenian proto-language). Armenian shares the augment and a negator derived from the set phrase in the Proto-Indo-European language * ne h₂oyu kʷid ("never anything" or "always nothing"),

1050-740: Is considered to be one of the largest deposits in Armenia is located 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of the town. Many small dairy and bakery enterprises are still functioning in Vardenis since the Soviet times. The largest industrial firm in Vardenis is the "Samelon Vardeins Sea-Buckthorn Processing Plant" for alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, founded in 2000. The town is also home to the "Gnel Khachatryan" plant for dairy products, as well as many small furniture manufacturing plants. Vardenis has four public education schools and three kindergartens. The town

1120-474: Is derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂r̥ǵipyós , with cognates in Sanskrit (ऋजिप्य, ṛjipyá ), Avestan ( ərəzifiia ), and Greek (αἰγίπιος, aigípios ). Hrach Martirosyan and Armen Petrosyan propose additional borrowed words of Armenian origin loaned into Urartian and vice versa, including grammatical words and parts of speech, such as Urartian eue ("and"), attested in the earliest Urartian texts and likely

1190-484: Is known for high insolation with 2,500 to 2,700 hours annually. Precipitation comprises 400 to 500 millimetres (16 to 20 in). The number of blizzard days is 30, of which 13 are in January. The summer is short, mild, sunny and humid, with minimal precipitation. The average minimum temperature of July–August is 16 °C (61 °F). while the maximum makes up to 35 °C (95 °F). Eastern winds prevail during

1260-415: Is not considered conclusive evidence of a period of common isolated development. There are words used in Armenian that are generally believed to have been borrowed from Anatolian languages, particularly from Luwian , although some researchers have identified possible Hittite loanwords as well. One notable loanword from Anatolian is Armenian xalam , "skull", cognate to Hittite ḫalanta , "head". In 1985,

1330-472: Is occupied by the town itself. Vardenis obtained its status as an urban settlement in 1995. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 12,685. However, as per the 2016 official estimate, the population of Vardenis is 12,600. Until 1969, Vardenis was known as Basarkechar ( Բասարգեչար , Basargechar ; Azerbaijani : Basargeçer ; Russian : Басаргечар ). The town was also known as Vasakashen ( Վասակաշեն ). The ancient name of Vasakashen

1400-405: Is rich in water resources (surface, ground fresh and mineral waters). Water resources of the whole province comprise about 692,000 cubic metres (24,437,749 cubic feet) per day. Water resources of the Vardenis area amount to about 248 cubic metres (8,800 cubic feet) a day, of which about 115 cubic metres (4,100 cu ft) a day are subject to use. Masrik river runs through the northern part of

1470-464: Is situated on the Masrik plain, in the valley of Masrik river. From the north it is bordered by Lake Sevan, from the east by Zangezur mountains and from the southeast by Vardenis mountains. From a morphological point of view, Masrik represents an intermountain area filled with fluvial-lacustrian deposits. The major part of the town, i.e. alluvial-proluvial-accumulative plain, is presented by claysands, clays, sands, several subsoils. The south-eastern part of

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1540-605: Is the working language. Armenian (without reference to a specific variety) is officially recognized as a minority language in Cyprus , Hungary , Iraq , Poland , Romania , and Ukraine . It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . Vardenis 40°10′50″N 45°43′12″E  /  40.18056°N 45.72000°E  / 40.18056; 45.72000 Vardenis ( Armenian : Վարդենիս [vɑɾtʰɛˈnis] )

1610-499: Is very rich in biodiversity. The area of Vardenis is rich with metal and non-metal resources. The gold mine of Sotk is active. There are numerous types of rock used in construction, as well as mines of semi-precious stones. The Zangezur range is made up of paleogenic granitoids, volcanic and sedimentary deposits. In general, Syunik region is rich in mineral resources, including stones and metals. The mineral resources of Vardenis can be classified as follows: Gegharkunik province

1680-636: The Armenian Apostolic Church . The Holy Mother of God church, built between 1903 and 1912, is the town's main church regulated by the Diocese of Gegharkounik based in Gavar . The population of Vardenis since 1831 is as follows: There are numerous roads to different parts of Armenia passing through the northeast, west and southeast of the town. The population is mainly engaged in agriculture, trade and services. The Sotk gold mine which

1750-466: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (11–14th centuries) resulted in the addition of two more characters to the alphabet (" օ " and " ֆ "), bringing the total number to 38. The Book of Lamentations by Gregory of Narek (951–1003) is an example of the development of a literature and writing style of Old Armenian by the 10th century. In addition to elevating the literary style and vocabulary of

1820-563: The Armenian genocide , mostly in the diaspora ). The differences between them are considerable but they are mutually intelligible after significant exposure. Some subdialects such as Homshetsi are not mutually intelligible with other varieties. Although Armenians were known to history much earlier (for example, they were mentioned in the 6th-century BC Behistun Inscription and in Xenophon 's 4th century BC history, The Anabasis ),

1890-819: The Armenian people and the official language of Armenia . Historically spoken in the Armenian highlands , today Armenian is also widely spoken throughout the Armenian diaspora . Armenian is written in its own writing system , the Armenian alphabet , introduced in 405 AD by Saint Mesrop Mashtots . The estimated number of Armenian speakers worldwide is between five and seven million. Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European Armenian

1960-563: The Battle of Kalbajar , near the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War , until 2020, when the Armenian side handed it over to Azerbaijan according to the ceasefire agreement , ending the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war . Azerbaijani forces entered the district on 25 November, and on 26 November, Armenian media reported that a group of 250 Azerbaijani soldiers had arrived at the gold mine, and demanded its handover, establishing

2030-641: The Greek language , the Armenian language, and the Indo-Iranian languages . Graeco-Aryan unity would have become divided into Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian by the mid-3rd millennium BC. Conceivably, Proto-Armenian would have been located between Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian, consistent with the fact that Armenian shares certain features only with Indo-Iranian (the satem change) but others only with Greek ( s > h ). Graeco-Aryan has comparatively wide support among Indo-Europeanists who believe

2100-643: The Indo-European homeland to be located in the Armenian Highlands , the " Armenian hypothesis ". Early and strong evidence was given by Euler's 1979 examination on shared features in Greek and Sanskrit nominal flection. Used in tandem with the Graeco-Armenian hypothesis, the Armenian language would also be included under the label Aryano-Greco-Armenic , splitting into Proto-Greek/Phrygian and "Armeno-Aryan" (ancestor of Armenian and Indo-Iranian ). Classical Armenian (Arm: grabar ), attested from

2170-542: The Mekhitarists . The first Armenian periodical, Azdarar , was published in grabar in 1794. The classical form borrowed numerous words from Middle Iranian languages , primarily Parthian , and contains smaller inventories of loanwords from Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Mongol, Persian, and indigenous languages such as Urartian . An effort to modernize the language in Bagratid Armenia and

Sotk - Misplaced Pages Continue

2240-610: The Siunia dynasty , founded the settlement of Vasakashen by establishing a palace on the territory of modern-day Vardenis during the 9th century, which survived until the 17th century. After the fall of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia in the mid 11th century, control over the Sotk canton was transferred to the Smbatyan dynasty prince of Vaykunk (Tsar) in the land of Artsakh . In

2310-464: The 14th century AD, and later rediscovered in the 20th century. Materials, cemeteries, weapons, bones, and everyday life objects, belonging to the early Bronze Age , have been found in complexes of settlements around the Sotk mountain pass. During this time, gold may have been acquired by alluvial way, while real mining may have begun in the later Bronze Age. On the southern slope of the mine, ruins of

2380-483: The 19th century, many Armenians from the area migrated to Georgia . During 1829–1830, the settlement was re-inhabited by Armenian migrants from Diadin (Tateon) in Western Armenia . From 1930 to 1995 it was an administrative centre. Until 1969, the town was officially called Basargechar. The first general urban plan of Vardenis was applied in 1952. The updated plan of the town, including the community lands,

2450-416: The 2001 census, the town of Vardenis had a population of 12,753. Deterioration of economic potential, difficult financial situation, high unemployment rates and other problems resulted in decrease of the population. In comparison with 1996, the population decreased by 14%, mainly due to youth migration, and consequently low birth rates. Currently, the town is mainly populated by ethnic Armenians who belong to

2520-408: The 5th century to the 19th century as the literary standard (up to the 11th century also as a spoken language with different varieties), was partially superseded by Middle Armenian , attested from the 12th century to the 18th century. Specialized literature prefers "Old Armenian" for grabar as a whole, and designates as "Classical" the language used in the 5th century literature, "Post-Classical" from

2590-481: The Armenian language by adding well above a thousand new words, through his other hymns and poems Gregory paved the way for his successors to include secular themes and vernacular language in their writings. The thematic shift from mainly religious texts to writings with secular outlooks further enhanced and enriched the vocabulary. "A Word of Wisdom", a poem by Hovhannes Sargavak devoted to a starling, legitimizes poetry devoted to nature, love, or female beauty. Gradually,

2660-593: The Hittites was proposed in the vicinity of Lake Sevan in 2009). According to the 13th century Armenian historian, Stepanos Orbelian , the town and its respective canton were named after the cold and stormy weather. Sotk has been well known for its mines throughout its history. The mines may have been exploited as early as the 2nd millennium BC, evidenced by the discovery of pits, funnels covered with grass, underground workings, wooden tools, stone mortars, washing pots, and more. The mines were used with interruptions until

2730-467: The Hurro-Urartian and Northeast Caucasian origins for these words and instead suggest native Armenian etymologies, leaving the possibility that these words may have been loaned into Hurro-Urartian and Caucasian languages from Armenian, and not vice versa. A notable example is arciv , meaning "eagle", believed to have been the origin of Urartian Arṣibi and Northeast Caucasian arzu . This word

2800-669: The Russian Empire), removed almost all of their Turkish lexical influences in the 20th century, primarily following the Armenian genocide . In addition to Armenia and Turkey, where it is indigenous , Armenian is spoken among the diaspora . According to Ethnologue , globally there are 1.6 million Western Armenian speakers and 3.7 million Eastern Armenian speakers, totalling 5.3 million Armenian speakers. In Georgia, Armenian speakers are concentrated in Ninotsminda and Akhalkalaki districts where they represent over 90% of

2870-459: The Russian and Ottoman empires led to creation of two separate and different environments under which Armenians lived. Halfway through the 19th century, two important concentrations of Armenian communities were further consolidated. Because of persecutions or the search for better economic opportunities, many Armenians living under Ottoman rule gradually moved to Istanbul , whereas Tbilisi became

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2940-780: The Soviet linguist Igor M. Diakonoff noted the presence in Classical Armenian of what he calls a "Caucasian substratum" identified by earlier scholars, consisting of loans from the Kartvelian and Northeast Caucasian languages . Noting that Hurro-Urartian-speaking peoples inhabited the Armenian homeland in the second millennium BC, Diakonoff identifies in Armenian a Hurro-Urartian substratum of social, cultural, and animal and plant terms such as ałaxin "slave girl" ( ← Hurr. al(l)a(e)ḫḫenne ), cov "sea" ( ← Urart. ṣûǝ "(inland) sea"), ułt "camel" ( ← Hurr. uḷtu ), and xnjor "apple (tree)" ( ← Hurr. ḫinzuri ). Some of

3010-472: The capital of the region of the same name. Its location on the mountain pass was at a strategic point on the medieval Dvin - Partav road, connecting the southern and eastern regions of the South Caucasus . The 7th century St. Astvatsatsin Church, an Armenian basilica church with 13th century khachkars in its walls is located in the village. The modern village was only founded in 1829, and its official name

3080-434: The center of Armenians living under Russian rule. These two cosmopolitan cities very soon became the primary poles of Armenian intellectual and cultural life. The introduction of new literary forms and styles, as well as many new ideas sweeping Europe, reached Armenians living in both regions. This created an ever-growing need to elevate the vernacular, Ashkharhabar, to the dignity of a modern literary language, in contrast to

3150-427: The eponymous Vardenis District . In 2020, during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war , Vardenis was struck by a rocket launched from an Azerbaijani drone. In September 2022, Vardenis as well as several other Armenian towns, including Jermuk ( Vayots Dzor Province ), Goris ( Syunik Province ) and Sotk (Gegharkunik Province), came under attack by Azerbaijani Armed Forces . Many residential houses were damaged as

3220-580: The existence of the two modern versions of the same language was sanctioned even more clearly. The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1990) used Eastern Armenian as its official language, whereas the diaspora created after the Armenian genocide preserved the Western Armenian dialect. The two modern literary dialects, Western (originally associated with writers in the Ottoman Empire) and Eastern (originally associated with writers in

3290-425: The hypothetical Mushki language may have been a (now extinct) Armenic language. W. M. Austin (1942) concluded that there was early contact between Armenian and Anatolian languages , based on what he considered common archaisms, such as the lack of a feminine gender and the absence of inherited long vowels. Unlike shared innovations (or synapomorphies ), the common retention of archaisms (or symplesiomorphy )

3360-470: The interests of the population at large were reflected in other literary works as well. Konsdantin Yerzinkatsi and several others took the unusual step of criticizing the ecclesiastic establishment and addressing the social issues of the Armenian homeland. These changes represented the nature of the literary style and syntax, but they did not constitute immense changes to the fundamentals of the grammar or

3430-469: The late Iron Age , the highlands known as "Urartu" became known as "Armenia" (see Urartu § Fall ). As the first Armenian political entity expanded eastwards, the regions around Sotk were incorporated as core regions of ancient Armenia. During Antiquity and the Middle Ages , Sotk was part of Syunik , one of the regions of the ancient and the medieval kingdoms of Armenia, where it served as

3500-434: The late 5th to 8th centuries, and "Late Grabar" that of the period covering the 8th to 11th centuries. Later, it was used mainly in religious and specialized literature, with the exception of a revival during the early modern period, when attempts were made to establish it as the language of a literary renaissance, with neoclassical inclinations, through the creation and dissemination of literature in varied genres, especially by

3570-492: The medieval khachkars (cross-stones). In the centre of Vardenis is located the Church of Surp Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God), built in 1905, where the Armenian historian Hovhannes Tsaretsi worked. The church is surrounded with numerous khachkars dating back to the 14th and the 17th centuries. Whilst part of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic , Vardenis was the administrative capital of

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3640-410: The mine area had been passed to Azerbaijan. According to Statistical Committee of Armenia 2011 census, the villages' current population is 824. Armenian language Armenian ( endonym : հայերեն , hayeren , pronounced [hɑjɛˈɾɛn] ) is an Indo-European language and the sole member of the independent branch of the Armenian language family. It is the native language of

3710-567: The morphology of the language. Often, when writers codify a spoken dialect, other language users are then encouraged to imitate that structure through the literary device known as parallelism . In the 19th century, the traditional Armenian homeland was once again divided. This time Eastern Armenia was conquered from Qajar Iran by the Russian Empire , while Western Armenia , containing two thirds of historical Armenia, remained under Ottoman control. The antagonistic relationship between

3780-403: The now-anachronistic Grabar. Numerous dialects existed in the traditional Armenian regions, which, different as they were, had certain morphological and phonetic features in common. On the basis of these features two major standards emerged: Both centers vigorously pursued the promotion of Ashkharhabar. The proliferation of newspapers in both versions (Eastern & Western) and the development of

3850-541: The official status of the Armenian language. Eastern Armenian is the official variant used, making it the prestige variety while other variants have been excluded from national institutions. Indeed, Western Armenian is perceived by some as a mere dialect. Armenian was also official in the Republic of Artsakh . It is recognized as an official language of the Eurasian Economic Union although Russian

3920-639: The oldest surviving Armenian-language writing is etched in stone on Armenian temples and is called Mehenagir . The Armenian alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405, at which time it had 36 letters. He is also credited by some with the creation of the Georgian alphabet and the Caucasian Albanian alphabet . While Armenian constitutes the sole member of the Armenian branch of the Indo-European family, Aram Kossian has suggested that

3990-483: The parent languages of Greek and Armenian were dialects in immediate geographical proximity during the Proto-Indo-European period. Meillet's hypothesis became popular in the wake of his book Esquisse d'une histoire de la langue latine (1936). Georg Renatus Solta (1960) does not go as far as postulating a Proto-Graeco-Armenian stage, but he concludes that considering both the lexicon and morphology, Greek

4060-407: The path to a new and simplified grammatical structure of the language in the two different cultural spheres. Apart from several morphological, phonetic, and grammatical differences, the largely common vocabulary and generally analogous rules of grammatical fundamentals allows users of one variant to understand the other as long as they are fluent in one of the literary standards. After World War I ,

4130-480: The population. The short-lived First Republic of Armenia declared Armenian its official language. Eastern Armenian was then dominating in institutions and among the population. When Armenia was incorporated into the USSR, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic made Eastern Armenian the language of the courts, government institutions and schools. Armenia was also russified . The current Republic of Armenia upholds

4200-436: The representation of word-initial laryngeals by prothetic vowels, and other phonological and morphological peculiarities with Greek. Nevertheless, as Fortson (2004) comments, "by the time we reach our earliest Armenian records in the 5th century AD, the evidence of any such early kinship has been reduced to a few tantalizing pieces". Graeco-(Armeno)-Aryan is a hypothetical clade within the Indo-European family , ancestral to

4270-468: The similarities between the two languages meant that Armenian belonged to the Iranian language family . The distinctness of Armenian was recognized when philologist Heinrich Hübschmann (1875) used the comparative method to distinguish two layers of Iranian words from the older Armenian vocabulary . He showed that Armenian often had two morphemes for one concept, that the non-Iranian components yielded

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4340-519: The terms he gives admittedly have an Akkadian or Sumerian provenance, but he suggests they were borrowed through Hurrian or Urartian. Given that these borrowings do not undergo sound changes characteristic of the development of Armenian from Proto-Indo-European , he dates their borrowing to a time before the written record but after the Proto-Armenian language stage. Contemporary linguists, such as Hrach Martirosyan , have rejected many of

4410-434: The town sits on erosion-denudational slopes, presented by slightly eroded, poriferous basalt. On the whole territory of Vardenis there are no active tectonic rifts. The projected earthquake acceleration varies between 0.28 and 0.32g. In the town centre, the acceleration is 0.32g (8.5 magnitude), in the southern and eastern parts the magnitude reaches up to 8.25-8.5. The town is at the proximity of Sevan National Park which

4480-500: The town. The horizon of the ground waters of this artesian basin lies 1.5 and 5 metres (4.9 and 16.4 feet) deep, which together with the horizon of weak pressured waters creates a joint water-bearing horizon. The fluctuations in the water level are between 0.24 and 0.57 metres (9.4 and 22.4 inches). Water in Vardenis is supplied by "Akunk", "Shat Jrer" and "Akner" water-pipe systems. The pipes of inner system and captation are currently in quite poor technical and sanitation condition. In

4550-435: The whole year. The autumn is mild, with the first half being moderately cloudy. The second half is unstable. Meteorological observations of the town (air temperature, precipitation, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, absolute humidity, wind direction and speed etc.) are implemented by Vardenis-Masrik meteorological stations, established in the 1940s at 1,842.7 metres (6,045.6 feet) above sea level. The town of Vardenis

4620-604: Was Zod ( Armenian : Զոդ ). The village had an Azerbaijani -majority population before the exodus of Azerbaijanis from Armenia after the outbreak of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict . From 1988 and onwards, Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan settled in the village. In September 2022, Sotk as well as several other Armenian towns, including Vardenis (Gegharkunik Province), Goris ( Syunik Province ) and Jermuk ( Vayots Dzor Province ), came under attack by Azerbaijani Armed Forces . Many residential houses were damaged as

4690-574: Was developed by the requirement of the Ministry of Urban Planning of Armenia in 2004. Vardenis is one of the oldest settlements in Armenia. The town and its vicinities are rich in cultural heritage, with 568 monuments recorded. The most interesting are the Makenats monastery, the basilica in Sotk, the chapels of Ayrk and Karchaghbyur, the tombs of 3rd-1st millennia BC, the Cyclopean masonry , and

4760-483: Was in reference to Prince Vasak who built his palace here in the middle ages. The current territory of Vardenis was part of the Sotk canton of historic Syunik ; the 9th province of Greater Armenia . According to traditional legends, the settlement was founded as Geghamabak by Gegham ; the grandson of the legendary Hayk who is considered the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation . According to historian Ghevond Alishan , prince Gaburn Vasak of

4830-405: Was situated between Proto-Greek ( centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian ( satem subgroup). Ronald I. Kim has noted unique morphological developments connecting Armenian to Balto-Slavic languages . The Armenian language has a long literary history, with a 5th-century Bible translation as its oldest surviving text. Another text translated into Armenian early on, and also in the 5th-century,

4900-682: Was the Armenian Alexander Romance . The vocabulary of the language has historically been influenced by Western Middle Iranian languages , particularly Parthian ; its derivational morphology and syntax were also affected by language contact with Parthian, but to a lesser extent. Contact with Greek, Persian , and Syriac also resulted in a number of loanwords. There are two standardized modern literary forms, Eastern Armenian (spoken mainly in Armenia) and Western Armenian (spoken originally mainly in modern-day Turkey and, since

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