The chambers
Wide after a short passage.
Gerd Eichmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gerd Eichmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 23artashes — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gerd Eichmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Serouj — CC BY 3.0
Areni-1 Cave, also known as the Bird's Cave, is an important archaeological site near the village of Areni in southern Armenia, on the Arpa River. It became world famous after the discovery of the earliest known shoe and the earliest known winery, a small cave with a big story. It served as a ritual site and settlement in the late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. In 2008 the Armenian archaeologist Diana Zardaryan found the famous leather shoe, and in January 2011 the winery was announced. In September that year came news of a straw skirt dated to 3900 BC, along with evidence of contacts with Mesopotamia and the Caucasus. You enter by a short passage into wide chambers and see excavation pits and pieces of jars. The shoe itself is shown at the History Museum of Armenia in Yerevan, so do not expect the original finds here. That makes a local guide very useful for reading what you see, and the entrance overlooks a handsome rocky valley. It is close to the road to Noravank, 6 km in a straight line from the monastery, so it makes a short stop before or after. Wear shoes suited to uneven ground, bring a light jacket and mind your head in low spots. It does not suit anyone unable to manage rough steps.
Wide after a short passage.
Where the finds came from.
Views over a rocky valley.
Near Areni village, on the Arpa River, Vayots Dzor Province
No, it is on show at the History Museum of Armenia in Yerevan.
It helps a lot, as mainly the excavation traces remain in the cave.