Avan, Aragatsotn

Avan (Armenian: Ավան) is a town in the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia. The population is largely Kurdish. The village is home to the basilica style church of Surb Astvatsatsin that sits along a street just off of the main road beside the town cemetery. The large cemetery contains many khachkars from the 13th-18th centuries. Adjacent to it across the street is a stepped plinth and broken funerary pillar monument of the 5th to 6th c. A worn inscription may be found along the landings of the second and third steps. There is a newly built church also by the name of Surb Astvatsatsin that sits near the main highway closer to the center of town, and is said to have been constructed upon old foundations. Some confusion may arise since two...