Lake Sevan: the "Mirror of the Caucasus"

As the first stop of the "Caucasus Tour", Lake Sevan, the world's second highest freshwater lake, has soul-piercing blue water and is intoxicatingly beautiful. Sit by the lake and daydream, or even go boating, and forget about worldly worries for a while. In fact, there are quite a lot of disasters and troubles left to the Armenian people, such as the "Nagorno-Karabakh conflict" that occurred during the journey. Let’s get back to the topic of “Lake Sevan”. Among the three sacred lakes in ancient Armenia, only Lake Sevan remains in the territory of modern Armenia. Unfortunately, the other two, one is in Turkey today, and the other is in Iran. It can be seen that the remaining Lake Sevan has a lofty status. On the peninsula in the northwest corner of the lake there is an ancient Armenian monastery built in the 4th century - Sevanavank Monastery. It stands tall, still exuding a desolate and ancient atmosphere in the wind and frost. Existing buildings include the Church of the Holy Apostles and the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady on a high ground. The latter is larger and has more preserved historical sites. There are probably very few people in the world who use this black material to build monasteries. This "black temple" standing on the brown hillside is a perfect match with the blue of the lake. When it comes to the word "Armenia", most Chinese people's first association may not be a country, but the name of an ancient civilization or a secret place in South America. As a country, many people don’t know where it is, or have never heard of it, and cannot distinguish it from other countries that also end with “Nia”. Although this land is so inconspicuous on the world map, it is full of secrets under its almost "invisible" appearance. This land is full of medieval churches and monasteries, and due to its unique geographical environment such as the snow-capped mountains, it is known as the "Kingdom of God". The black-walled courtyard we visited still displayed broken tiles from old buildings. In the dim room, I listened to the local tour guide introduce the sad history of Armenia, and my mood became a little heavy. When the handsome Armenian guy in the distance gestured for me to point the telephoto lens at him, my mood became particularly bright and full of joy. Walking on the green hillside full of wild flowers, facing the clear blue sky and the crystal clear water of Lake Sevan, feeling the gentle mountain breeze and listening to the singing of birds, I really want to stay at this moment forever. Tips: ❻The 38 letters of the Armenian alphabet. ⓴The red, blue and orange flag of Armenia.