Armenia's wine province capital — gateway to Noravank's red cliffs, the Selim caravanserai pass, and the oldest winery in the world nearby
Yeghegnadzor is the capital of Vayots Dzor Province in southern Armenia — a small, pleasant highland town at 1,500m on the Arpa River, surrounded by vineyards and apricot orchards that give the region its ancient reputation for wine production. Vayots Dzor is home to the Areni cave complex, where the world's oldest winemaking equipment (dating to 6,100 years ago) was discovered in 2007 — pushing the origin of winemaking back significantly and establishing this valley as one of humanity's earliest wine-producing regions. The town is a natural hub for exploring Noravank canyon (30km south), the…
The Areni cave discoveries, announced 2010–2011, include a wine press, fermentation vats, storage jars, and dried grape seeds and vine remnants dated by Oxford to approximately 4100 BCE — the oldest known winemaking installation in the world, predating previous records in the Zagros Mountains of Iran by 1,000 years. Vayots Dzor was historically part of the Armenian kingdom of Syunik, a semi-autonomous principality that maintained Armenian culture through successive invasions. The Selim Caravanserai (1332 CE), on the high mountain pass between Vayots Dzor and Lake Sevan, is the best-preserved…