Shepard's bridge is a medieval Armenian bridge over Aratsani (Tur: Murat) and Euphrates confluence. A number of other bridges were destroyed by the river flow. According to the legend the bridge that stands today is built by a shephard.

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

Shoe cleaners in Erzurum

Typical picture for the region: men in a tea house with short, narrow tea cups

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

Another Armenian church converted to a mosque in Erzurum

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

Row of old buildings in Erzurum

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

Remains of Armenian Dashnaktsutyun party office in Erzurum

Street signs here are rare and movement is chaotic

Both horse carts and modern cars can be seen in the streets

Armenian church inside Erzurum fortress, currently converted to a mosque

Old district streets of Erzurum

Erzurum is the largest city of the region with about 400 thousand population. Majority of the current population are Turks and Azerbaijani Turks from Nakhichevan. Almost every women here wears a hijab.

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

Basean fortress, called "Pasinler" by Turks

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

Western Armenia: Lost Motherland, Basean Valley, Erzurum

A women waiting for the bus with her son in Horasan

Elderly men in tea house in Horasan, Basean Valley. Streets in cities are plenty of tea houses (chaykhana), visited only by men