The lake has 4 islands: Aghtamar, Ktuts, Lim, and Arter. The largest island is Aghtamar, where the Holy Cross (Surb Khach) Church, built by Gagik Artsruni I in the 10th century, is located.
Legend
Aghtamar
According to folklore regarding the origin of the name Aghtamar, a love-struck young man made his way every night to the island where his beloved Tamar lived. The fire lit by Tamar lead the boy through the darkness of the night to the island.
One day the boy dove into the lake as usual, but did not see the fire. He became lost at sea and drowned. As he suffocated, he kept on repeating: “Akh, Tamar” (“Oh, Tamar”). The island came to be called Akhtamar, and later transformed into Aghtamar.
This beautiful story became the plot of the famous “Akhtamar” legend by Hovhannes Tumanyan (1869-1923).
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