Arch of Charents, Cultural heritage monument in Voghjaberd, Armenia
The Arch of Charents is a freestanding memorial built from dark basalt and orange tuff, set beside a main road in Voghjaberd, Armenia. The structure takes a rectangular form with a curved opening at its center, open on both sides to the surrounding landscape.
The arch was built in 1957 by sculptor Rafael Israelyan to honor the poet Yeghishe Charents, who died in Soviet detention in 1937. It was erected at a time when Armenia was beginning to publicly acknowledge figures who had been silenced in the preceding decades.
The arch frames a direct view of Mount Ararat, and the carved lines from Charents' poem about that mountain are inscribed on the stone for anyone to read. Standing in front of the opening, the visitor sees the landscape the poet wrote about.
The monument sits directly beside a main road and can be reached with a short stop during a drive. A visit in daylight gives enough light to read the inscription and take in the view through the opening.
The arch was designed by Rafael Israelyan, the same architect who later created the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan. Visitors who know both works can notice a shared approach to stone and open space across the two sites.
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