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| General information | | HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW |  “If there are woods, mountains and mineral waters in paradise, it will be like Dilijan”.
Yu. Kirillova
The health resort town Dilijan surrounded by the Lesser Caucasus mountain-range lies to the north-eastern part of the Republic of Armenia, in the valley of the river Aghstev, at a height of 1100-1510 meters above sea level. It borders with the Bazums in the north-east, the Pambaks - in the west and south-west, the Murghuzes- in the east and the Areguns- in the south-east.
The gorge mountain-ranges are covered with rich forests changing to alpine meadows at the alp. The town reformed highway joints the town with the capital Yerevan (96 km), Vanadzor and Ijevan (35-40 km). Since 1986 Dilijan has been jointed with railway network of the Republic (Dilijan-Yerevan section forms 144 km).
As a climatic balneal health centre of medium- mountain zone, Dilijan is characterized by mild, moderate warm summer, sunny warm winter and dry warm weather during the whole year. The average temperature of July is 18 degrees above zero and the average range of temperature of January is from 0 to 2 degrees above zero. The air dryness particularly appears in winter and spring. The atmospheric moisture capacity forms 70 percent, rainfall is 637mm, sunlight duration is 2091 hours.
Due to archaeological investigations conducted in the 70s of the 19th century, the man has been living here since the Late Bronze and the Early Iron Ages (the end of 2000 BC-the beginning of 1000).
Burial mounds have been found out in the residential areas of Redkin camp, Khrtnanots and Papanino. The most of the materials found are now at museums in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tbilisi, Baku and Yerevan, the reminder is at the Dilijan Geological Museum. The exact date of foundation of Dilijan is unknown as yet. The modern territory of Dilijan was a part of the historic Great Hike and was situated in Varazhnunik province of Airarat region. In the 4th century when Armenia was shared between Byzantium and Persia these lands (historic Hovk) formed part of Dzorapor province in Gugark region and served as royal hunting and rest place for Armenian kings. The names of the territory of Dilijan and its borders had been changed several times as a result of historic events. In the 8th century these lands became a part of Kayen state and then a part of Kust-Artsakhyan state. From the 15th century up to the Eastern Armenia’s joining Russia they were a part of Gandzak khanate. Later on these lands have become a part of Yelizavetpol province. There are several hypotheses concerning the etymology of town name. There  is also a historical hypothesis connecting the explanation of town name with a duke of the same name. In 1666 the name Dilijan has been first mentioned in French traveller Jean Chardon’s travel notes. Due to historical sources of the beginning of the 19th century Dilijan was one of the 27 villages in Ghazakh province and had 60 houses’ population. It is also known that in the end of the 18th and in the beginning of the 19th centuries the people from Achajur, Sarigyugh, Sevqar villages of Ijevan region and Koti of Noyemberyan region had removed to Dilijan making up the main population of town.
As a health-centre Dilijan has already become to develop in the end of the 19th century attracting campers with its exclusive healing air and wonderful landscape. The most of campers have settled down here having built houses and villas, and a part of patients with chronic diseases have stayed in Dilijan as permanent residents. All this promoted the formation of Dilijan as an urbanized area. The first hospital “Lazaret” was founded in 1888-1889-s with the support of three physicians and drugstore. Rich men of Transcaucasia especially of Tbilisi, were building their houses and villas according to the style of their dachas concurrently using Dilijan home-building traditions. Exterior house decoration elements brought here by Malakan sectarians who removed to Dilijan in the 30-s of the 19th century influenced the house building style. As a result the “Dilijanian” building style architecture with gable roof, nice patterned balconies and whitewashed walls was molded and then it was spread all over the Aghstev valley. The economy and culture of town was gradually developing. In 1868 the first school was founded. The next school was founded at Poghoskilisa (now it is Shamakhyan residential area), some churches were built. In 1908 the first library was open. Drama study groups were functioning, summer clubs and entertainment places were founded and the most significant one was the famous “Rotonda” (“domelike building”- translation from French) that had been functioning since 1900. It was one of the most favourite places of Armenian intellectuals and Dilijanians’ most attended place. It has functioned till 1936.
Owing to the natural climatic agents the first TB dispensary of the republic was open in Dilijan in 1921. Taking into account town’s resort opportunities the government had given the republican subordination condition to Dilijan.
According to RA National Council’s decision since 1996 Dilijan has been involved in Tavoush region as a political subdivision.
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| NATURE |  “Yes, it’s very beautiful to my delight! It seems that mountains envelop and guard this valley with animated love and tenderness. At a height of 1500meters the air is unusually transparent and seems to be colored by dark-blue shade. The most striking impression of the valley is its gentleness…”
M.Gorky
Due to its natural and climatic conditions Dilijan is a single land. Fine landscape has an extra positive influence on patients and holiday-makers.
The middle altitude is 1256meters. Relief is complicated. The Aghstev channel and terraces are smooth but slopes are cut off with ravines. The climate is moderately warm and humid. Dilijan is a standard medium-mountain zone climatic sanatorium and its principal sanitary factors are middle and high mountain climate, favorable oxygen regimen, unique landscape features and curative mineral waters availability.
One of the most valuable natural resources in Dilijan is woods covering the 34000hectares territory. For the purpose of woods’ flora and fauna keeping, enrichment and receiving new species in local conditions the state forest reserve has been organized in 1958 and later on in 2002 “Dilijan national park” has been created on its basis. The woodland covers 94 percent of the park territory and it has about 40 types of trees and 18 ones of bushes. In the most part the main tree types are oak, beech, hornbeam. There are such broad-leaved trees as a maple, a birch, an ash, a willow, a linden, an elm and others.
Coniferous forests in park cover only restricted territory.
Here one can meet oaks of 300-400 which are of 25 meters height and are 80-100 centimeters in diameter. One of the oak-woods with such an old trees situated in the Getik basin is considered to be the biggest one in Transcaucasia.
Oak, beech, hornbeam is rated highly for timber.
There are wild fruit-trees growing at the territory of park. They are apple-tree, pear-tree and plum-tree.
There one can meet a large variety of bushes such as raspberry, filbert, euonymus, ilex, rhododendron, cowberry, currant, gooseberry, jasmine, hawthorn, loquat, blackthorn, blackberry and others. There are 123 types of edible plants. About 180 types of herbs grow here (immortelle-strawflower, mint, thyme, nectar gland, burdock and others). There are a lot of mushrooms and the most of them are edible.
The national park has a very rich fauna. Here one can meet mammals as brown bear, wolf, marten, otter, lynx, sylvan cat, Persian squirrel, sylvan dormouse, hedgehog, chamois, European red deer, wild hog and others.
Typical avifauna representatives are pheasant, quail, common partridge, Caspian turkey, culver, bald eagle, lammergeyer, pygmy eagle, golden eagle, some hawks and others.
Reptile class is represented here by lizards, snakes and tortoises.
There are some representatives of amphibian class, they are green toad, Transcaucasian frog.
There are some kinds of fish such as brook trout, koghak and crucian carp.
It is strictly prohibited to fish and hunt at the national park territory for the purpose of hunting and pharmaceutics.
Dilijan has great opportunities for ecotourism development and certain measures have already undertaken for its realizing.
The Lake Parz is situated in the northern part of the town at a height of 1400meters. It has 2hectares area and 8 meters mean depth. To the east of the Lake Parz, at a distance of 3kilometers from Gosh village, there is the Lake of Tzlka (Gosh) at a height of 1500meters.
The Aghstev with its tributaries gives peculiar charm to the general town landscape.
It originates in the north-western mountainside of the Pambak chain of mountains (at a height of 2980 meters) and flows into the Kura. The river length is 133 kilometers. The annual flow forms 256 cubic meters. The left-side tributaries Bldsan and Ghshtoghan join the Aghstev in the central part of the town. In the environs of Teghut village the tributary Haghartsin joins it and the longest tributary Getik flows into it in the lower part of the village Gosh.
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