page_title: Ararat Province
section_title: Tourism
hierarchical_section_title: Ararat Province / Economy / Tourism
caption_attribution_description: Հայերեն: Գոռավանի ավազուտներ պետական արգելավայր This is a photo of a natural site in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh identified by the ID AR-SR011
context_page_description: Ararat, is a province of Armenia. Its capital and largest city is the town of Artashat.
  The province is named after the biblical Mount Ararat. It is bordered by Turkey from the west and Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic from the south. It surrounds the Karki exclave of Nakhichevan which has been controlled by Armenia since its capture in May 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Domestically, Ararat is bordered by Armavir Province from the northwest, Kotayk Province from the north, Gegharkunik Province from the east, Vayots Dzor Province from the southeast and the city of Yerevan from the north.
  Two former capitals of Armenia are located in the modern-day Ararat Province, Artaxata and Dvin. It is also home to the Khor Virap monastery, significant as the place of Gregory the Illuminator's 13-year imprisonment and the closest point to Mount Ararat within Armenian borders.
context_section_description: The Khor Virap monastery is among the regular tourist destinations in Ararat Province. The ancient settlements of Artaxata and Dvin are among the attractive sites for archaeologists.
  The province is home to many protected areas of nature including the Khosrov Forest State Reserve, the Goravan Sands Sanctuary and the Khor Virap Wildlife Sanctuary.
caption: The Goravan Sands Sanctuary
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