Arpa is a village in the Sharur-Daralayaz uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Keshishkend (Yeghegnadzor) district, and currently in the Vayots Dzor province. The provincial centre lies 15 km to the west of the town of Keshishkend, by the Arpa River, and at a height of 1,050 m above sea level. The remnants of an ancient Alban monument-temple built in 1321 are still surviving there. The sources refer to it also as Arpanyal, Arbanyal. It was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

Along with the Armenians, the village was also inhabited by 34 Azerbaijanis in 1897, 15 Azerbaijanis in 1926. In the 1930s the Azerbaijanis were ousted from the village where only Armenians now reside.

The toponym was formed on the basis of the Turkic personal name “Arpa”. It seems to have stabilized as the name of a tribe later.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 10 September 1946, the village was renamed “Areni”. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative area of the Vayots Dzor province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 39°43’ N., longitude: 45°11’ E.