People Were Making Pottery in Dilijan Thousands of Years Before Armenia Existed<\/strong><\/h2>\nArchaeologists trace the earliest signs of life in this area back to the Kura-Araxes culture, around the third millennium BC. People here already farmed with simple wooden plows, raised livestock, and made tools out of metal \u2014 sickles, axes, spearheads \u2014 though stone tools were still part of everyday life. Pottery was a real point of pride: by hand, they shaped thousands of vessels and jugs, each one carved or pressed with geometric patterns.<\/span><\/p>\nA King’s Signature in Stone\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nArtashes I, 2nd Century BC<\/strong><\/p>\nOn the road from Dilijan toward Ijevan, near the village of Tekhut, two stones with Aramaic inscriptions were found. King Artashes I placed them there \u2014 the same king who declared Great Armenia an independent state in 189 BC. The stones marked the edges of his kingdom: a rare case where a 2,000-year-old border survives not in some old chronicle, but as a real, physical object.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Roof](\"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.2-1-e1792169132278.png\")
<\/p>\n
Not Just a Province, but a Royal Getaway\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe Arshakuni Dynasty and Hovk, 1st Century AD<\/b><\/p>\n
The area became part of Great Armenia as the Varazhnunik district of the Ayrarat province, and for a long time it stayed just that \u2014 a province. Everything changed when the Arshakuni dynasty took power: the lands along the Aghstev River, including Dilijan itself \u2014 then known as Hovk \u2014 became a royal residence and hunting ground.<\/span><\/p>\nThe World’s First Christian State<\/strong><\/h2>\n301 AD<\/b><\/p>\n
Under Trdat III, also from the Arshakuni line, Armenia officially made Christianity its state religion. For Dilijan \u2014 where the monasteries of Goshavank and Haghartsin would later rise \u2014 this marked the start of an entirely different culture.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
But centuries later, a unified Armenia ceased to exist: by the end of the 4th century, the country was split between Byzantium and Persia. What happened to Dilijan next \u2014 that’s the next part of the story.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dilijan you know today with wooden verandas, coffee shops didn’t start under Soviet rule, or even the Russian Empire. This is the story of how the land above the Aghstev River went from a Kura-Araxes settlement to a royal getaway for Armenian kings, long before it had its current name. Part 1: Ancient Times […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ru_RU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Meet Dilijan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mdwpadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u041d\u0430\u043f\u0438\u0441\u0430\u043d\u043e \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043c\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mdwpadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u041f\u0440\u0438\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0447\u0442\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 \u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442\u044b\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mdwpadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/065af44b4d0231e20dd8b1291481f936\"},\"headline\":\"Dilijan’s History. Part 1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":372,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22.1-1.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22.1-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22.1-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22.1-1.png\",\"width\":800,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Ancient Times and Great Armenia\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dilijan’s History. Part 1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Meet Dilijan\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Meet Dilijan\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/MeetDilijan-logo-dark.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/MeetDilijan-logo-dark.webp\",\"width\":498,\"height\":163,\"caption\":\"Meet Dilijan\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/065af44b4d0231e20dd8b1291481f936\",\"name\":\"mdwpadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mdwpadmin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/ru\\\/author\\\/mdwpadmin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan","description":"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/","og_locale":"ru_RU","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan","og_description":"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.","og_url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/","og_site_name":"Meet Dilijan","article_published_time":"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"mdwpadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"\u041d\u0430\u043f\u0438\u0441\u0430\u043d\u043e \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043c":"mdwpadmin","\u041f\u0440\u0438\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0447\u0442\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f":"3 \u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442\u044b"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/"},"author":{"name":"mdwpadmin","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#\/schema\/person\/065af44b4d0231e20dd8b1291481f936"},"headline":"Dilijan’s History. Part 1","datePublished":"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/"},"wordCount":372,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png","articleSection":["Local stories"],"inLanguage":"ru-RU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/","url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/","name":"Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png","datePublished":"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00","description":"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"ru-RU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ru-RU","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png","width":800,"height":1200,"caption":"Ancient Times and Great Armenia"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dilijan’s History. Part 1"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/","name":"Meet Dilijan","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"ru-RU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#organization","name":"Meet Dilijan","url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ru-RU","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MeetDilijan-logo-dark.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MeetDilijan-logo-dark.webp","width":498,"height":163,"caption":"Meet Dilijan"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#\/schema\/person\/065af44b4d0231e20dd8b1291481f936","name":"mdwpadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ru-RU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mdwpadmin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/meetdilijan.com"],"url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/author\/mdwpadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2734,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2731\/revisions\/2734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
A King’s Signature in Stone\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nArtashes I, 2nd Century BC<\/strong><\/p>\nOn the road from Dilijan toward Ijevan, near the village of Tekhut, two stones with Aramaic inscriptions were found. King Artashes I placed them there \u2014 the same king who declared Great Armenia an independent state in 189 BC. The stones marked the edges of his kingdom: a rare case where a 2,000-year-old border survives not in some old chronicle, but as a real, physical object.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Not Just a Province, but a Royal Getaway\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe Arshakuni Dynasty and Hovk, 1st Century AD<\/b><\/p>\n
The area became part of Great Armenia as the Varazhnunik district of the Ayrarat province, and for a long time it stayed just that \u2014 a province. Everything changed when the Arshakuni dynasty took power: the lands along the Aghstev River, including Dilijan itself \u2014 then known as Hovk \u2014 became a royal residence and hunting ground.<\/span><\/p>\nThe World’s First Christian State<\/strong><\/h2>\n301 AD<\/b><\/p>\n
Under Trdat III, also from the Arshakuni line, Armenia officially made Christianity its state religion. For Dilijan \u2014 where the monasteries of Goshavank and Haghartsin would later rise \u2014 this marked the start of an entirely different culture.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
But centuries later, a unified Armenia ceased to exist: by the end of the 4th century, the country was split between Byzantium and Persia. What happened to Dilijan next \u2014 that’s the next part of the story.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dilijan you know today with wooden verandas, coffee shops didn’t start under Soviet rule, or even the Russian Empire. This is the story of how the land above the Aghstev River went from a Kura-Araxes settlement to a royal getaway for Armenian kings, long before it had its current name. Part 1: Ancient Times […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ru_RU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Meet Dilijan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mdwpadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u041d\u0430\u043f\u0438\u0441\u0430\u043d\u043e \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043c\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mdwpadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u041f\u0440\u0438\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0447\u0442\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 \u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442\u044b\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mdwpadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/065af44b4d0231e20dd8b1291481f936\"},\"headline\":\"Dilijan’s History. Part 1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":372,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22.1-1.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22.1-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22.1-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22.1-1.png\",\"width\":800,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Ancient Times and Great Armenia\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/blog\\\/dilijan-history-p-1\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dilijan’s History. Part 1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Meet Dilijan\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Meet Dilijan\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/MeetDilijan-logo-dark.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/MeetDilijan-logo-dark.webp\",\"width\":498,\"height\":163,\"caption\":\"Meet Dilijan\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/hy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/065af44b4d0231e20dd8b1291481f936\",\"name\":\"mdwpadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mdwpadmin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/meetdilijan.com\\\/ru\\\/author\\\/mdwpadmin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan","description":"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/","og_locale":"ru_RU","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan","og_description":"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.","og_url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/","og_site_name":"Meet Dilijan","article_published_time":"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"mdwpadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"\u041d\u0430\u043f\u0438\u0441\u0430\u043d\u043e \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043c":"mdwpadmin","\u041f\u0440\u0438\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0447\u0442\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f":"3 \u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442\u044b"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/"},"author":{"name":"mdwpadmin","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#\/schema\/person\/065af44b4d0231e20dd8b1291481f936"},"headline":"Dilijan’s History. Part 1","datePublished":"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/"},"wordCount":372,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png","articleSection":["Local stories"],"inLanguage":"ru-RU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/","url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/","name":"Dilijan's History. Part 1 - Meet Dilijan","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png","datePublished":"2026-10-16T16:45:42+00:00","description":"Explore the ancient history of Dilijan, from Kura-Araxes settlements to the royal hunting grounds of Armenian kings and the adoption of Christianity.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"ru-RU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ru-RU","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/22.1-1.png","width":800,"height":1200,"caption":"Ancient Times and Great Armenia"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/blog\/dilijan-history-p-1\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dilijan’s History. Part 1"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/","name":"Meet Dilijan","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"ru-RU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#organization","name":"Meet Dilijan","url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ru-RU","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MeetDilijan-logo-dark.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MeetDilijan-logo-dark.webp","width":498,"height":163,"caption":"Meet Dilijan"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/hy\/#\/schema\/person\/065af44b4d0231e20dd8b1291481f936","name":"mdwpadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ru-RU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4b9d28384c1f9e395690b7c7e8e1d1b6cefc5a8db99c61392ba2edf167beba5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mdwpadmin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/meetdilijan.com"],"url":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/author\/mdwpadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2734,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2731\/revisions\/2734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetdilijan.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
On the road from Dilijan toward Ijevan, near the village of Tekhut, two stones with Aramaic inscriptions were found. King Artashes I placed them there \u2014 the same king who declared Great Armenia an independent state in 189 BC. The stones marked the edges of his kingdom: a rare case where a 2,000-year-old border survives not in some old chronicle, but as a real, physical object.<\/span><\/p>\n The Arshakuni Dynasty and Hovk, 1st Century AD<\/b><\/p>\n The area became part of Great Armenia as the Varazhnunik district of the Ayrarat province, and for a long time it stayed just that \u2014 a province. Everything changed when the Arshakuni dynasty took power: the lands along the Aghstev River, including Dilijan itself \u2014 then known as Hovk \u2014 became a royal residence and hunting ground.<\/span><\/p>\n 301 AD<\/b><\/p>\n Under Trdat III, also from the Arshakuni line, Armenia officially made Christianity its state religion. For Dilijan \u2014 where the monasteries of Goshavank and Haghartsin would later rise \u2014 this marked the start of an entirely different culture.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But centuries later, a unified Armenia ceased to exist: by the end of the 4th century, the country was split between Byzantium and Persia. What happened to Dilijan next \u2014 that’s the next part of the story.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Dilijan you know today with wooden verandas, coffee shops didn’t start under Soviet rule, or even the Russian Empire. This is the story of how the land above the Aghstev River went from a Kura-Araxes settlement to a royal getaway for Armenian kings, long before it had its current name. Part 1: Ancient Times […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/p>\nNot Just a Province, but a Royal Getaway\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The World’s First Christian State<\/strong><\/h2>\n