Lake lustre

21 February, 2016

Nestled between mountains in the small nation of Armenia, Lake Sevan is a picturesque water body that is home to several historical churches and legends. KALPANA SUNDER explores the quaint locale that makes for a good holiday retreat.

Teal…aquamarine, sky blue, lapis lazuli, emerald, azure or turquoise? I think of the different shades of blue as I sit on the grassy slope dotted with white wildflowers, in an almost meditative trance. I am looking at a stunning canvas of rust-coloured monasteries silhouetted against crisp blue skies and the most picturesque lake that I have seen, tucked into a mountain basin with volcanic mountains, towering on the other side. I am at Lake Sevan, 60 km from Yerevan, the capital of pint-sized Armenia. Maxim Gorky once said that the lake was “like a piece of the sky that had descended to the earth among the mountains”.

Lake Sevan at 6,200 feet is a high altitude lake, and is one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the South Caucasus. Originally, the lake was famous for its picturesque island, widely described in the literary works of Armenian authors, but, unfortunately, after human intervention in the early 20th century, which drained the waters of the lake, it turned into a peninsula. Read more:

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