Lake Sevan

One of the largest freshwater mountain lakes in Eurasia, Lake Sevan sits at 1,900 meters elevation in central Armenia and covers approximately 1,242 square kilometers. A peninsula jutting into the lake's northwestern corner — formerly an island before water levels were lowered in the Soviet era — holds the ninth-century Sevanavank Monastery above a rocky shore. The lake's intense blue color, visible from mountain passes above, and the surrounding steppe landscape give it a high-altitude austerity distinct from alpine lakes at similar elevations elsewhere in the Caucasus.