A high blue lake with a monastery on its peninsula
Lake Sevan lies almost 1,900 metres above sea level, a vast blue expanse ringed by bare mountains and the largest lake in the Caucasus. On a peninsula that was once an island, the dark stone churches of Sevanavank look out over the water, reached by a stairway from the shore. In summer Armenians come for beaches, boating and grilled fish from the lake, including the local trout ishkhan. The road on to Dilijan leads through forested hills to a town of old wooden houses.