Rshtunik ( hy, Ռշտունիք) was a canton (''gavar'') of the province of
Vaspurakan of historical
Armenia, encompassing the area on the southern coast of
Lake Van
Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...
, which was also referred to as ''Ṛshtuniatsʻ Tsov'' ("Sea of Rshtunik"), as well as
Aghtamar Island
Akdamar Island ( tr, Akdamar Adası, ku, Girava Axtamarê), also known as Aghtamar ( hy, Աղթամար, translit=Aġt’amar) or Akhtamar ( hy, Ախթամար, translit=Axt’amar), is the second largest of the four islands in Lake Van, in east ...
. It was located to the east of the canton of
Andzevatsʻikʻ, to the north of
Mokkʻ (Moxoene), to the west of
Hayotsʻ Dzor, and to the east of
Yerevarkʻ of
Turuberan province.
It was ruled by the
Rshtuni (also referred to as Rashduni) noble house until the ninth century.
The name of the region is likely connected with the name of
Urartu/Urashtu, the Iron Age kingdom that was centered on the coastal regions around Lake Van.
Rshtunik covered a mountainous region filled with river rapids, fertile lands, and rich mines. It was also home to a royal residence of the king of Armenia called ''Ostan Ṛshtuniatsʻ'', located directly across from Aghtamar Island.
In medieval times, Rshtunik contained numerous churches and monasteries, which functioned as centers of learning and art.
One of the most famous of these was
Narekavank
Narekavank ( hy, Նարեկավանք, "Monastery of Narek", Western Armenian: ''Nareg'') was a tenth-century Armenian monastery in the historic province of Vaspurakan, near the southern shores of Lake Van, in present-day Gevaş district in the Va ...
(since demolished), where
St. Gregory of Narek lived and studied.
The region corresponded approximately to the latter-day district of
Gevaş in the
Van Vilayet of the
Ottoman Empire. Before the
Armenian genocide, this district contained more than twenty Armenian-populated villages with a total population of about ten thousand.
References
See also
*
List of regions of old Armenia
Early medieval Armenian regions
Vaspurakan
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