Devil's Bridge on the Vorotan

The Devil's Bridge, Satani Kamurj in Armenian, is a natural bridge across the Vorotan river below Tatev Monastery, seven to eight hundred metres down from the rim of the canyon. It was formed by travertine: mineral springs emerging from the slopes deposited calcareous sinter over millennia until the vault closed over the riverbed. The span is about thirty metres long and up to fifty or sixty metres wide. Under the vault the river runs in half-darkness between polished boulders, while stalactites and living strands of maidenhair fern hang from the ceiling, sustained by the constant damp. The spring water is warm and rich in minerals, which has stained the rocks in pink, ochre and greenish bands; small natural baths have formed by the bank, and people bathe in them. The place lies on the old road between Tatev and Goris, below the village of Tatev, and the descent to the river follows a series of hairpin bends. The descent to the river follows the hairpins of the old road below the village of Tatev, so the bridge is usually seen together with the monastery. People bathe in the warm mineral pools by the water, but the stones are slippery. The signposts are modest and the turning off the main road is easy to miss — navigate by GPS.

On the map