Irrigation Systems of Terraces in Armenian Culture

Irrigation systems of terraces are one of the important phenomena of Armenian culture. As a result of the flow of water, some soil erosion was taking place. At the same time, without water, the cultivation of terraced lands would be ineffective. Over time, the irrigation systems of terraces have acquired unique solutions adapted to the local landscape. In this article an attempt is made to present the irrigation systems of the terraces on the basis of materials related to different historical and ethnographic regions and individual settlements of Armenia. An important part of them are canals built on slopes, norias, reservoirs constructed on a steep terrain, etc. Water management within the directly irrigated plot is realised in two ways. In the first case, all terraces are irrigated from the main stream, and in the second case, water is transferred from one terrace to another.