Vayots Dzor

Vayots Dzor was a mountainous canton of Syunik on the upper Arpa. In 1337 it was held by the Orbelian princes and their Proshian vassals; their caravanserai, built in 1332, served Silk Road merchants.

The University of Gladzor taught theology and manuscript illumination until it closed in 1340. Timur's invasion in 1385 broke Orbelian power; Turkmen and Iranian armies later contested the valley. Under Persia it became part of the Nakhichevan Khanate, passing to Russia in the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828.