Mughni – Saghmosavank – Hovhannavank – Armenian Alphabet Monument – Amberd 

• Mughni Monastery is located in the village of the same name, 2 km north from Ashtarak. The complex is consisted of the main St. George Church (1661-1669) with a gallery, refectory, abbot’s chamber and a service room. The building of the Monastery is surrounded by a beautiful, soigne garden and a wall. Left from the altar is St. George’s grave. The open, three-arch gallery was built simultaneously with the Church and differs from similar buildings. Its middle span is made a little taller and wider than the sidelong ones, what noticeably amplifies the architectural expressiveness. The gallery is crowned by a 12-column rotunda bell tower. 

• Saghmosavank Monastery is 5 km north from Hovhannavank, in the village of Saghmosavan, on the right bank of the River Kasagh. The main church of the monastery complex is St. Sion Church, built in 1215 by King Vache Vachutyan on the site, where in the first centuries of Christianity was a hermitage. It, like St. Karapet Church of Hovhannavank Monastery, belongs to a cross-domed style with two-story aisles in all corners of the building. From the western and eastern parts of the building the temple was lined with an extensive vestibule (1250) and book depository (1255), which is attached to a little church Astvatsatsin (1235). The book depository of Saghmosavank belongs to the number of rather rare by its purpose and original by its composition constructions in Armenia. Huge inner size and two-story aisles in its south-west allow us to assume that here they not only kept manuscripts, but also rewrote them. With a smooth, modestly decorated façade of the book depository, not inferior in the height to the temple and porch, interiors, rich in carving and color, are in contrast. 

• Hovhannavan village is about 6 km north from Ashtarak, on the right bank of the River Kasagh, creating there a picturesque gorge. The main local sight is Hovhannavank Monastery. The terrain itself represents a nearly regular rectangle from 3 compactly standing buildings. The ancient construction of Hovhannavank – St. George basil, built in the V century, was reconstructed in 573. In the basil there is one of the few iconostases. From the north side of the basil the ruins of the first Christian church, referring to the beginning of the IV century and built, most likely, on the site of a pagan temple, adjoin it. The main temple, St. Karapet, was built in 1216-1221 by King Vache Vachutyan. Cross-domed, with two-story limits in all corners, St. Karapet Temple differs with affluent décor, the main constituent of which are floral ornament, a bas-relief with the picture of sitting on it Jesus Christ and ‘’wise and foolish virgins’’.

• Armenian Alphabet Monument is located in the village of Artashavan in the region of Aragatsotn, on the west slope of Mount Aragats. The complex was built in 2005, to the 1600^th anniversary of Armenian Alphabet. It includes the sculptures of the 39 letters of Armenian Alphabet and also the monuments of great Armenian thinkers. All the letters and statues are made of Armenian tuff. Armenian is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages. Armenian Alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405; it’s used in Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Javakhk, Community of the Armenian Diaspora and in different Armnological and cultural centers. The richest literature was made in Armenian. It’s the writing of an ancient, medieval and modern civilization. It has a huge contribution in the treasury of world culture. 

• Amberd Fortress is located on the unapproachable cape of Mount Aragats, at the height of 2300 meters, Amberd Fortress shows up with its majesty. The architecture of the Fortress is plain, severe and subordinated to the main demand – reliably protect from attacks. Huge stone blocks of walls had to take hits of enemy’s projectiles and battering rams. The castle and some part of the fortress walls were built in the VII century in the days of Kamsarakans. Since the X century it had been the ancestral domain of Pahlavuni kings and was a strategically important supporting point of Armenian Bagratuni kings. In 1026, by the order of an illustrious warlord Vahram Pahlavuni, a church, in the fortress was built a church, one of the best with its grace. The people named it Vahramashen, after its warlord.