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• See the sites that emphasise Armenia’s status as the first country to adopt Christianity as the official state religion (with the exception of the now vanished kingdom of King Abgar of Edessa), such as Mount Ararat , where Noah's Ark is believed to have settled after the flood.
• Go to Echmiadzin, the capital of Armenia from AD 180-340, which remains the site of the country’s most important cathedral, and home of the church’s Supreme Catholicos; the Cathedral of St Gregory the Illuminator is believed to stand on the site of a much older church, itself predated by a pagan shrine. The existing 17th-century cathedral is a fine example of Armenian ecclesiastical architecture, with a squat bell tower and elaborately carved dome. The cathedral’s treasury contains a spearhead believed to have been used to pierce the side of the crucified Christ.
• Visit one of the oldest cities in the world, founded nearly 2,800 years ago in the time of ancient Babylon: Yerevan. Sadly, little remains to remind the visitor of the city’s ancient heritage. Most of the old town was demolished in the 1930s and has been rebuilt using the attractive pinkish-brown volcanic tufa stone seen throughout the republic in so-called 'Armenian national style' architecture – solid, sometimes imposing, and essentially Soviet in character. However, there is still much to occupy your time: go to the National Gallery (founded 1919); the Yerevan library of ancient manuscripts (Materadaran) , which houses over 13,000 texts, many beautifully illuminated and some dating as far back as the ninth century; or the Vernisaj flea market, which takes place at weekends.
• Sites of interest close to Yerevan include the fortress of Erebuni (an archaeological site studded with over 200 ancient rock engravings (petroglyphs) and surrounded by a pristine lake) and Ughtasar (3km/2 miles above sea level on a mountainous plateau in the mesmerising region of Syunik, an ancient fortress not to be missed).
• Climb up a steep, rocky valley to view one of Armenia’s most dramatic sights, the Geghard Monastery. The monks, who still inhabit the monastery, occasionally sacrifice sheep on an open-air stone altar. ‘Wishing trees’ by the road approaching the site are decorated with coloured scraps of cloth, tied on by pilgrims and travellers hoping their prayers will be answered. A monastery has occupied this site since the fourth century AD, and the existing churches, all magnificently carved, date from the 13th century.
• On the road between Geghard and Yerevan, Garni is the site of a temple to the Roman god Mithras. In the first century AD, Nero sent money and slaves to build the temple as a tribute to the Armenian King Tiridates for his support in fighting off the Parthians. Repeated earthquakes have destroyed most of the original structure, but the temple’s vertiginous position, dominating the valley from a plateau 300m (984ft) above the Azat River, is breathtakingly beautiful.
• Take in the panorama of Lake Sevan, 70km (43 miles) east of Yerevan and the largest lake in the Caucasus, much vaunted for its pure waters, stunning setting and delicious salmon trout.
• Go to what was a major cultural centre in medieval Armenia, and one of the very few perfectly preserved examples of the architecture of its period (10th to 13th centuries), the Agartsin Monastery, which is a few kilometres east of Dilijhan in a wooded gorge and has a particularly prized refectory building.
• Well worth visiting are the Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanakin, which are in close proximity to the banks of the Debed River, and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site: these were first built in the 10th century and have undergone many different constructions and expansions. It is believed that the great Armenian troubadour-poet, Sayat-Nova, was born in Sanakin, and became a monk at Haghpat.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.
• Go to Echmiadzin, the capital of Armenia from AD 180-340, which remains the site of the country’s most important cathedral, and home of the church’s Supreme Catholicos; the Cathedral of St Gregory the Illuminator is believed to stand on the site of a much older church, itself predated by a pagan shrine. The existing 17th-century cathedral is a fine example of Armenian ecclesiastical architecture, with a squat bell tower and elaborately carved dome. The cathedral’s treasury contains a spearhead believed to have been used to pierce the side of the crucified Christ.
• Visit one of the oldest cities in the world, founded nearly 2,800 years ago in the time of ancient Babylon: Yerevan. Sadly, little remains to remind the visitor of the city’s ancient heritage. Most of the old town was demolished in the 1930s and has been rebuilt using the attractive pinkish-brown volcanic tufa stone seen throughout the republic in so-called 'Armenian national style' architecture – solid, sometimes imposing, and essentially Soviet in character. However, there is still much to occupy your time: go to the National Gallery (founded 1919); the Yerevan library of ancient manuscripts (Materadaran) , which houses over 13,000 texts, many beautifully illuminated and some dating as far back as the ninth century; or the Vernisaj flea market, which takes place at weekends.
• Sites of interest close to Yerevan include the fortress of Erebuni (an archaeological site studded with over 200 ancient rock engravings (petroglyphs) and surrounded by a pristine lake) and Ughtasar (3km/2 miles above sea level on a mountainous plateau in the mesmerising region of Syunik, an ancient fortress not to be missed).
• Climb up a steep, rocky valley to view one of Armenia’s most dramatic sights, the Geghard Monastery. The monks, who still inhabit the monastery, occasionally sacrifice sheep on an open-air stone altar. ‘Wishing trees’ by the road approaching the site are decorated with coloured scraps of cloth, tied on by pilgrims and travellers hoping their prayers will be answered. A monastery has occupied this site since the fourth century AD, and the existing churches, all magnificently carved, date from the 13th century.
• On the road between Geghard and Yerevan, Garni is the site of a temple to the Roman god Mithras. In the first century AD, Nero sent money and slaves to build the temple as a tribute to the Armenian King Tiridates for his support in fighting off the Parthians. Repeated earthquakes have destroyed most of the original structure, but the temple’s vertiginous position, dominating the valley from a plateau 300m (984ft) above the Azat River, is breathtakingly beautiful.
• Take in the panorama of Lake Sevan, 70km (43 miles) east of Yerevan and the largest lake in the Caucasus, much vaunted for its pure waters, stunning setting and delicious salmon trout.
• Go to what was a major cultural centre in medieval Armenia, and one of the very few perfectly preserved examples of the architecture of its period (10th to 13th centuries), the Agartsin Monastery, which is a few kilometres east of Dilijhan in a wooded gorge and has a particularly prized refectory building.
• Well worth visiting are the Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanakin, which are in close proximity to the banks of the Debed River, and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site: these were first built in the 10th century and have undergone many different constructions and expansions. It is believed that the great Armenian troubadour-poet, Sayat-Nova, was born in Sanakin, and became a monk at Haghpat.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.