Hagvi, the homeland of the Armenian Calvados
1 June 2021
In Hagvi village of the Lori region, their favorite berry is a blackberry and their favorite alcohol is calvados. Yes, yes, you heard right, Calvados. This is how they explain to the guests in a more comprehensible way what homemade vodka distilled from local white apples is.
And there are so many blackberries in the mountains here that everyone knows that they are Hagvian blackberries eaters.
The locals unanimously assure that the nature of their village has a unique beauty. To see for yourself, just to stand on the slope of the gorge and look around.
This small village perched on a mountain slope is surrounded by barren mountains and dense forests.
A postcard from Hagvi, Lori.
Little Susanna gets acquainted with the “fine art” of spinning wool.
Family portrait.
The only small playground in Hagvi, where children gather to play after school. 10-year-old Suliko is the most flexible of his peers.
Surb Astvatsatsin Church (12-13th centuries) is located in the middle of the village, surrounded by ancient Khachkars (Engl.: cross stones).
Meruzhan Pepanyan sows onions. He says that everything grows in the village. Little by little, he sows everything. Apart from teaching and farm work, he is also engaged in painting. “It’s impossible to live surrounded by this beauty and not paint it,” he says.
Suliko, Arthur and Rafael are classmates and spend most of the day together. They love to play with the puppies and ride horses in the fields. They don’t fail to brag that they can even ride an unsaddled horse.
The season of “wool spinning” has been officially declared open in Hagvi.
Arthur Ohanyan is putting his final touches on the vegetable garden since he will take the animals up to the mountains in a few days, leaving all the burden of agricultural work on the shoulders of the women.
An opening scene from Hagvi.
Gohar Niazyan’s yard is one big, colorful flower garden. In one corner of this flower garden, Gohar sowed a little bit of greens for her own use.
