Khosrov Forest State Reserve

Khosrov Forest State Reserve protects a stretch of forest and highland terrain in Ararat province, set aside by royal decree in the 4th century. King Khosrov Kotak established it between 330 and 338 AD. Few protected areas anywhere can point to a paper trail that old.

The king's reasons were practical, not sentimental. Artashat, then Armenia's capital, and the newly founded city of Dvin needed milder conditions nearby, and a managed forest helped with that. It also gave the royal court a hunting ground, a training field for troops, and a place for entertainment — conservation as a byproduct of statecraft rather than its goal.

The reserve carries the same name and purpose today, run as a formal state protected area. Details on current boundaries and rules sit with the reserve's own site, khosrov.am.

The reserve lies in Ararat province, roughly 35 km southeast of Yerevan, in the uplands east of the Ararat plain.