Travel Guide Zod

The town of Zod, or Zotk, at the south-eastern end of the lake, in its flattest part, is best known for its large gold mines, which are of concern to environmentalists. It is because of this gold deposit, which has been exploited since the Soviet era and before, that a railway line ventures to these remote places, connecting Zod to Yerevan via Sevan, and which is hardly ever used by travellers. However, a detour to Zod is justified by the remains of two rustic churches dating from the 13th century in the village. Alternatively, from Vardenis, one can take the road directly along the lake, passing through Medz Mazra (an important site of 15th and 16th century khatchkars), at the foot of the highest point of the Sevan range (Mt Kotchadagh, 3,370m), on the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. From there, the shoreline narrows, the mountains sometimes dropping steeply into the lake. It is better not to venture into these mountains, beyond which lies Azerbaijan! In addition to the relief, the conflict with nearby Azerbaijan explains the low population density in these grazing areas devoted to livestock. The Azeri rural population that partly inhabited these mountains until 1988 had to leave, and it is strongly advised against hiking in the area of the peaks of the Sevan range until further notice. Especially since the Armenian defeat in the last Karabagh war in 2020, which allowed Azerbaijan to recover the territory of Kelbadjar, located between Nagorno-Karabagh proper and Armenia, which had been controlled by the Armenians since 1994, moved (or repositioned, as in the Soviet era) the Armenian-Azerian border to the gates of Zod. As a result, Azerbaijan, which intends to use its military advantage to delimit, for its own benefit, the course of this sensitive border, which Russian soldiers are called upon to defend alongside the Armenians, has taken control of part of the mining installations of the Zod gold deposit, all of which the Armenians exploited before the war.