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Episode 5 features Sos (Armenian: Սոս) which is a village in the Martuni Province of Artsakh. The area around Sos probably doesn’t look much different than it did 1,600 years ago. Around that time, Mesrob Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet, taught the new script for the first time at the Amaras Monastery nearby. Before that, it is recorded that the monastery itself was founded by St. Gregory the Illuminator, the man who brought Christianity to Armenia in the late 3rd century AD. St. Gregory’s grandson, Grigoris, is also buried at the monastery. For all the local history, you would not expect Sos to be such an unassuming place. It humbly sits in the south of Artsakh, a village known for its rich soil, well-suited for viticulture. Not surprisingly, most of the residents are vintners and their primary work is winemaking. The bucolic, ancient setting aside, Sos bears the scars of the 1st Artsakh War for Independence. During the fighting, 38 community members lost their lives from this village of ju
