Lake Arpi, lake in Shirak Province of Armenia
Lake Arpi is a reservoir on the Ashotsk Plateau in Shirak Province, at 2,025 meters. It is 7.3 km long and 4.3 km wide, with a surface of about 20 km² and an average depth of 4.2 m (maximum 8 m). Its reinforced-concrete dam, 10 m high and 80 m long, was designed by Natalia Martirosyan.
Originally the lake was much smaller and less than 2 meters deep. Between 1946 and 1951, it was transformed through the construction of dams and channels that more than quadrupled its size, turning it into a key water reservoir for the region.
The name Arpi is also rendered as Arpa Göl in Turkish. Villages such as Paghakn, Zorakert and Tsaghkut line the shores, and the reservoir is used for fish farming and fishing; its waters hold carp and Varicorhinus, and small boats cross the lake.
You can reach the lake by road from nearby villages such as Ghazanchi or Amasia. Bring good shoes, binoculars, and a windbreaker, as the area is remote and conditions change with the seasons.
Lake Arpi hosts the world's largest colony of Armenian gulls, and more than 140 bird species have been recorded around it, of which 80–85 nested. The reservoir was designed by Natalia Martirosyan and built in 1946–1950; it is also a Ramsar site since 1993.
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