Natural habitats include semidesert, calcareous grasslands, and juniper woodlands alternated with cliffs, canyons, and rocky outcrops.

Also the area is interesting for bird observations, being inhabited by Egyptian Vulture, White-throated Robin, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Black-headed Bunting, and number of other species.

The community places a strong emphasis on viticulture and winemaking, along with the development of fruit cultivation, which has led to relatively high employment rates and significantly reduced emigration.

In ancient times, it resided about half a kilometer north of its current location, situated atop a hill where the Holy Mother of God Church, constructed by the architect Momik in 1321, remains standing to this day.

The cave has also offered surprising new insights into the origins of modern civilizations, such as evidence of a wine-making enterprise and an array of culturally diverse pottery.

Additional discoveries at the site include metal knives, seeds from more than 30 types of fruit, remains of dozens of cereal species, rope, cloth, straw, grass, reeds and dried grapes and prunes.

Patrick McGovern, a biomolecular anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania, commenting on the importance of the find, said, "The fact that winemaking was already so well-developed in 4000 BC suggests that the technology probably goes back much earlier.

The church was designed by the architect and sculptor Momik who is best known for his high-relief carvings at the monastery of Noravank (located approximately 6 kilometers southeast from Areni).

In August 2014, a fiction alternative history novel entitled Origins: Discovery was released that featured the village of Arpa (which was renamed Areni in the late 1930s) during the period 1930 until 1952, and the Areni-1 Cave.