Education minister and EU envoy visit Aruch church and medieval fortress

Armenian Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan and the head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos, visited the Aruch St. Grigor Church in Aragatsotn Province together with schoolchildren participating in the “Young European Heritage Makers” creative competition. Deputy Education Minister Alfred Kocharyan also took part in the visit.

According to a statement released by the ministry, the guests toured the Aruch St. Grigor Church and the surrounding area and were introduced to the history of the monument.

During the event, Education Minister Zhanna Andreasyan and EU Ambassador Vassilis Maragos presented certificates to the nine winning teams of the “Young European Heritage Makers” competition held within the framework of the European Heritage Days programme.

The minister congratulated the students and thanked them for participating and for showing interest in historical monuments. She expressed hope that the event would inspire the students to discover Armenia and learn more about the country’s cultural heritage and historical monuments.

Zhanna Andreasyan noted that a festival of spiritual music dedicated to Christmas is held every year at the Aruch St. Grigor Church in Aragatsotn Province.

“I hope you will also take part in the upcoming concert, because when spiritual music is performed inside the church, its grandeur and magnificence are revealed in an entirely new way,” Zhanna Andreasyan told the students.

The minister, the EU ambassador and the schoolchildren then took part in a hike to the Aruch medieval fortress.

The “Luserun” (“Generation of Light”) team representing the town of Abovyan, which won the national stage of the “Young European Heritage Makers” competition, also secured victory in the pan-European stage. The winning team had travelled to Strasbourg and recently returned from the trip.

“Luserun” presented an interactive educational quiz game dedicated to the Garni Temple.

Within the framework of the ARC-HE-TOUR-DEV programme, and with the support of the Italian Embassy in Armenia, a restoration and museum development project for the Aruch medieval fortress has been designed while preserving methodological rigor and the historical integrity of the monument.

The project envisages visitor routes, recreation areas, entrance sections and interpretation tools aimed at ensuring a coherent and accessible presentation of the monument complex.