Arzni

Arzni is one of the most ancient settlements of Armenia. The name is connected with the legend of Ara the Beautiful and Semiramis. When the Armenian King Ara the Beautiful fell down in the battlefield Semiramis ordered to bring Ara’s body to her. And as, it had so happened that none of the Assyrian soldiers had seen Ara before, except for her, they brought the bodies of all the dead brave soldiers and told her to take the bodies and to scrutinize (which sounds in Armeninan Ar, znni from here comes the name)… And according to the legend Semiramis tried to revive Ara by healing waters of Arzni. According to another legend, Arzni was one of the resting places of the Armenian army as far as since the times of Tigranes the Great (Mets). The tombs of the period of New Stone Age were found in the territory of the village of Arzni and there are caves that were settled by Primitive man in the gorge of Hrazdan, which at a later period were of defensive significance. And the preserved ancient building is the church of the 6th century. Apparently there was an ancient castle and the remains of the fences have been preserved till our days. There are also two chapels built in the 19th century and old cemetery in the village. There is a hydroelectric power station of Arzni not far from the village. Arzni is known to the world for its five resorts. There are mainly meant to be for the treatment of patients with the gastroenterology disorder, ischemic and rheumatic heart diseases. The resort «Arzni» is located on 1250 m above sea level, in the gorge of Hrazdan. The climate of Arzni is continental, mild, with cold winters; the average temperature in January goes down to -5˚C, warm summers, the average temperature in July + 22˚C and long, warm autumns. The annual sunny days are about 2236 hours of sunshine. Arzni exceeds all the resorts in the Caucasus by the number of clear days. The Barometric pressure is stable, without drastic changes and is equal to 657 mm of the mercury column. The main medical factors of Arzni are the carbon-chloride-bicarbonate-sodium waters, as well as climatic conditions of the mountainous areas with low barometric pressure.