Pedagogical Camp in Autumn Lori

The 20th anniversary autumn creative gathering and pedagogical camp of a group of teachers from the research gymnasium and secondary school concluded on October 24-25 with a patriotic trip to autumn Lori.

The first stop was at the 4th-century Holy Cross Church in Aparan, which is not only proof that Armenian Christians have lived in this region since ancient times, but also a unique, standing and functioning spiritual temple that allows us to see what Armenian churches were like in the years following the adoption of Christianity as a state religion. This is where the path to getting to know and discover each other began... after all, to know a person, you have to travel with them. For me, the first discovery was the ability of sociologist Nazeli Petrosyan to perform spiritual songs...

The next stop was the Lori Fortress, the center of Tashir-Dzoraget /late 10th-early 11th centuries/, located five kilometers from Stepanavan, at the intersection of the Dzoraget and Urut gorges.

The last stop of the first day was at the Odzun monastic complex, which is the main symbol and monument of the village of Odzun. According to tradition, the Odzun Church is mentioned as early as the 1st century, when the Apostle Thomas ordained a number of priests and bishops.

The first day of the pedagogical field camp ended in Alaverdi with an emphasis on summarizing the autumn creative gathering of the author educational program. It was emphasized that such a format of summarizing reviews is more effective, as it enriches the content of the summary through the cooperation of specialists from different fields, the mutual enrichment of knowledge in an informal, warm atmosphere, while enjoying the nature of Lori and the monuments of our past, bowing before the memory of the great people who created our history.

The second day of the project team began with a ritual kitchen: preparing Goris tan, after enjoying which we walked in the city of Alaverdi. After the walk, we moved to the Akhtala monastic complex, where the abbot of the monastery kindly and briefly presented the detailed history of the monastery and the murals, which are unique in our region. After Akhtala Monastery, the road up the Debed River took us to the other two majestic monasteries of Lori: the Haghpat and Sanahin monastic complexes, where we listened to the spiritual songs of Nazeli Petrosyan…

This format of summarizing the pedagogical camp was quite effective, as specialists from different fields had the opportunity to conduct pedagogical conversations in a more intimate communication environment, in particular to discuss a number of ideas at the development and dissemination of the author pedagogical program.