Kotayk Marz is the offspring of the Hrazdan and Getar rivers. The flow of the Hrazdan (formerly Zangi) river from Lake Sevan past Yerevan to the Arax River cut a gorge through the twisted basalt formations of the foothills, creating a micro-environment that attracted Paleolithic toolmakers. Since sovietization, the Hrazdan river has driven a long series of hydropower plants, whose cheap electricity and water attracted in the 1940s-80s a new breed of tool makers. The gorge of the Hrazdan river remains striking for its varied climate and rock formations, and in its northern reaches, mountains and forests are the setting for an array of summer guest-houses and sanatoria. The riven crater of Mt. Ara dominates the western skyline of the marz. Beyond the upland valleys of the Getar river basin E of Yerevan, the Geghama range becomes a desolate but beautiful upland of eroded volcanic cones, almost uninhabited, while the southern border is the dramatic gorge of the Azat river and Garni/Geghard. As a tourist destination Kotayk is rich indeed. Besides the traditional attractions of Garni, Geghard, and Tsaghkadzor, the region abounds in wonderfully sited rural monasteries such as Havuts Tar, S. Stepanos, Teghenyats and Meghradzor, forts such as Bjni and Sevaberd, and the splendid folk shrine of Kuys Varvara inside the Mt. Ara volcanic crater.
Several schools are reconstructed in Kotayk by the Armenian Educational Foundation.
Click reconstructed school 
icon for detailed information.
Geghard
Garni