Goris State University

Goris State University, known locally as GorSU, is the largest university in Syunik province and the only state-run university anywhere in the south of the country. For families in Goris and the surrounding villages, that's not a small thing — it often decides whether a son or daughter studies close to home or leaves the region for good.

The school runs four faculties. Between them they cover five subject areas: philology, history and geography, pedagogy, biology and chemistry, and physics and mathematics. More than 2,000 students are enrolled — a large number for a town Goris's size.

There's no dramatic building here, no view worth a photograph. What GorSU represents is more useful than decorative: it's the place training the province's next teachers, historians and scientists, and one of the few reasons Syunik's higher education doesn't funnel entirely toward Yerevan. Worth knowing about for that reason alone, even if there's little to see on a walk past the campus.

GorSU is in the town of Goris, in Syunik province, roughly 170 km southeast of Yerevan as a straight line. Exact routes and connections from Yerevan or nearby towns are best checked locally.