Devil’s Bridge Trail

Dogs Unknown

Features Birding · River/Creek · Views

This trail is located in Tatev village of the Syunik region. The area is famous for the Tatev Monastery, which was built in the early Middle Ages and was considered the spiritual and cultural institution of Syunik. The trail begins near the monastery and passes through the wooded area on a winding trail of the Vorotan gorge. The Desert of Tatev (an ancient monastery, school, and one of the medieval cultural centers of the Syunik province) awaits its visitors in this gorge.

The next site on the route is the so-called Devil’s Bridge, located over the Vorotan River. It will take you 20 to 40 minutes to explore this area of the gorge. Locals claim that the water flowing underneath the bridge has healing properties; as such, many people come in the summer months to reap its benefits. The trail ends at the Devil’s Bridge.

Flora: The trail passes through a forest of oak and hornbeam, as well as wild pear, hawthorn, rose hip, and wild apple, maple and elm. There are primulas, squills and other flowers and herbs that blossom in the springtime.

Fauna: Brown bears, wolves, foxes, porcupines, lizards, snakes, and turtles are often seen in the area. Rare species of skink, cat snake and Transcaucasian rat snake are also seen here. The songs of forest jays and the common blackbird will accompany runners during the whole length of the trail. Other species of birds living here are large and black titmice, chaffinches, green woodpeckers, hawfinches, and semi-collared and small flycatchers. There are a number of species of bunting, including the black-headed, the rock, the ortolan, and the corn bunting. The brown and the lesser grey shrikes can be seen in the bushes, while the common redstart, the red-fronted serin and warblers are found in the thickets.