In Armenia, they call people hailing from the region of Lori as the "simple-minded Loretsi". The hidden meaning of this nickname is that residents of Lori are pure and untainted, sincere and unspiteful folk and a people possessing a rich spiritual inner world; similar to their unblemished natural surroundings. Of the many treasures dotting the countryside, of particular note is the city of Stepanavan, siitting on the heights above of Dzoraget River and nestled on the slopes of deeply  forested mountains. What makes Stepanavan one of the country's most gorgeous of summer resort areas is its sunny days, mild humid climate and abundance of green spaces.

Knock on any door in Stepanavan and you\'ll be welcomed inside to find out, "whose son or relative you are." Then the residents will offer you cheese and sour cream and recount the golden days of the past and the concerns of today. The old folk remember the time when, come the summer, the town would fill up with tourists and those with summer homes who\'d arrive from all corners of the Soviet Union, especially Georgia and Russia.

Sargis Gharakeshishyan, the Mayor of Stepanavan, boasts that, "There\'s not one family in Stepanavan who hasn\'t shown hospitality to vacationers coming from Russia, Georgia or Armenia. Even Mantashov came here once for a rest." This health resort town, famous for its "Anahit" and "Vahagn" furnished room "pensyons" and the "Lalvar" complex, also had a number of production facilities, both industrial and agricultural.

The Mayor states, "The most productive cheese factories, which produced Swiss cheese and exported it to Moscow, Leningrad and all over Armenia, were located in our region, in Stepanavan and Tashir. Since our fields are located in Alpine zones, we obtained  high quality and ecologically-pure products. We also had sewing, clothing goods and furniture factories."

The 1988 earthquake transformed Stepanavan into rubble. "You can say that our entire region was shaken to the core. All production facilities were shut down and haven\'t opened since. The administrative institutions of the city were destroyed as were the streets, water systems and other public utilities", recounts the Mayor.

There are practicalyy no traces left of the city transformed by the earthquake into one dotted by wagon huts as abodes. Perhaps just a few secondary roads in need of repair anjd a few "dohmiks" in outlying districts are all tha\'s left. The rehabilitation work has been financed by domestic and outside efforts. Here, you\'ll see neighborhoods constructed by Rumanians, Italians, Americans and Russians. The Lincy Fund built 208 apartments here in 2004.

Tourism is the direction of development adopted by the town; the creation of resorts zones and increasing the level of the service industry. Besides the reestablishment of the town\'s first hotel, the "Lori", other new investment projects have been completed. On the site of the former "Lalvar" tourist complex destroyed by the earthquake, a new  resort called the "Lori-Fortress", nestled in the pine forest, has been constructed with assistance from the Tourism Development Foundation. It opened its doors to vacationers in July of this year. Razmik Papayan, the Director of the resort, says, "One section is comprised of cottages that had been preserved and the rest is totally new construction. Today we have a total of 80 beds."  The place has been booked solid even without resorting to advertising.

With an air of satisfaction Mr. Papayan states, "We had 20 vacationers respond to our first advertising. They in turn referred their friends and family members to us. He urges all Armenians to vacation in Stepanavan rather than Kobulet or Batumi. "Our natural environment is much more seductive. Our pine groves aren\'t just attractive in terms of being a restful haven for the weary but also in terms of their health benefits."

Mayor Gharakeshishyan claims that during the current year an additional two investment projects will be implemented. When we voiced our concern to the Mayor that wouldn\'t this all be done to the detriment of the forest, as say in Tzaghkadzor, he replied, "Of course not. It\'s because of the forest that people choose to come to Stepanavan for rest and relaxation."

It\'s the Mayor\'s belief that the development of the tourist trade will cut unemployment, which now stands at some 40-45%, by some 20%. Here, as in other regions of Armenia, seasonal work abroard is the primary means of making a living. Despite the claims made by the Mayor that emigration "has come to a complete 100% halt due to the numerous government and private construction projects in town", the husband of every second Stepanavan wife we met during our stay was now in Russia and had forgotten both the wife and the kids.

The Mayor goes on to say, "Today, our city\'s water fulfills the needs of the towns of Vanadzor and Alaverdi and other villages, but we continue to have a water problem right here. The reason is the worn out water pipes dating from the 1950\'s and 1960\'s. We\'ve begun a project with "Hayjrmugh" and are changing 3 kilometers of water pipes in different neighborhoods. Right now, we experience a 65% water loss. The first stage of the project will be done by October and will cut the loss down to 35%. The entire water system will not be refurbished, just about 20% of the city system."

On the left bank of the scenic Dzoraget River gorge, which cuts through the town of Stepanavan, the Tashir Dzoraget kingdom was established in the 10th century A.D.Ruins of the royal palace complex remain standing till today. This site, located some 4 kilometers from Stepanavan, has been called the "Lori" city-fortress. According to historical sources the Bagratuni grand king Ashot II resided at this site and thus local residents call the site Ashot II, after this royal personnage.

Stepanavan residents recommend that all vacationers and weary-worn visitors to the town visit the city-fortress but those approaching the entrance are left with an impression of a neglected ruin. Overgrown weeds aren\'t cleared away and the only guidepost offering information on the city-fortress is broken and has fallen to the ground. Garbage overfills the royal palace and the ancient bath house. Even the road leading to this historical/cultural monument is in disrepair. The Mayor of Stepanavan states that while he has a great interest in preserving the area\'s cultural and historical monuments and in repairing the roads leading to them he doesn\'t have the legal authority to do so.

"They don\'t fall within our administrative district. Last year I went to the Prime Minister and requested that he make a recommendation that the area in question be attached to our town so that we could at least preserve and service the monuments. Some people showed up from the Cultural Monuments Preservation Agency and told us that since they are historical/cultural monuments there\'s no possibility for them to be transferred to Stepanavan Municipality\'s jurisdiction. They promised to allocate some funds from the 2009 Budget to undertake some renovation work.", states the Mayor.

The second treasure of Stepanavan is the "Sojut" biological and forest preserve, or otherwise called "DendroPark", estastablished in 1933 by the Polish engineer/sylviculturist Edmon Leonovitch. In this 35 hectare forest there are about 500 types of trees and bushes that grow in the world\'s various botanical climatic zones. It is the first garden in the sub-alpine zone in the Trans-Caucasus where the natural forest has been restyled into an forest garden and where all feel that they are in a little corner of paradise. In terms of developing the tourism trade this site is of inestimable value. However, such preserves and monuments must be accessible by a network of roads.

"Sojut" lies within the administrative district of the Gyulagarak community and the building of the road leading to the preserve is the responsibility of the Gyulagarak Municipality. Local residents, however, don\'t pin much hope on their Municipality. They are waiting for next year when Garen Jshmarityan, the former Minister of Economic Development and owner of the "Sojut" Child Sanitorium, in the vicinity of DendroPark, will improve the condition of the road leading to both DendroPark and the sanitorium on the occasion of the latter\'s official opening. That is once the sanitorium has been refurbished.