Around Yerevan

Khor Virap Monastery and Mt. Ararat

 Many of Armenian's most interesting historic sites are 30 km or so outside of the city.

Most of Armenian's historic Christian sites are centered around the life of St. Gregory the Illuminator. Gregory was the first Patriarch of the Armenian Church, and with his guidance Armenia became the world's first Christian country in 301. Like any good Christian story, however, pain and suffering were necessary for the country to be saved. The story goes that Gregory's father, Anak, a Parthian-Armenian prince, assassinated the king of the rival Arsacid Dynasty, Khosrov II. Anak was in turn executed and Gregory was smuggled into Central Anatolia. Later, Gregory converted to Christianity and decided to return of his homeland; there he would atone for his family's sins by saving his countrymen via conversion to Christianity. Khosrov's son, Tiridates III, imprisoned Gregory in the prison fortress Khor Virap (which translates to deep well) for his father's crimes.  Gregory remained there for 13 years until he was brought out of the well to save Tiridates III from insanity induced by the Roman Emperor Diocletian's betrayal and capture of much of the Arsacid Empire. Tiridates and his family were baptized by Gregory and the country became a Christian nation. A more likely story is that Tiridates converted the country to Christianity in order to inspire nationalistic/religious fervor to save his country from pagan Rome and Zoroastrian Persia, but whatever the case, the mythology is pretty awesome.

St. Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) Church. Khor Virap was converted from a prison fortress to a holy site after the St. Gregory's successful conversion of the Armenian people. The Armenian Catholicos (the head of the church) has resided there in the past.

Khor Virap is located right on the border of Turkey, and on a clear day, the view of Mt. Ararat is stunning. Mt. Ararat is also a prominent feature of the Yerevan skyline (Yerevan is 30km north of Khor Virap), and I was lucky to see it in all its glory on my trip out of Armenia.

Doves are often sold at Armenian holy sites so patrons can release them as a prayer for peace. We'd probably have peace by now if these greedy vendors just let the doves go instead of selling them.

The stairs out of St. Gregory's well. Precarious is an understatement.

Etchmiadzin is the spiritual capital of Armenia. It is around 30 km west of Yerevan. It is the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Mother Cathedral, the main church at Etchmiadzin. It's first iteration was built in 301 by St. Gregory.

Housed inside the Church were the treasures of the Catholicos.

Um....

The tip of the Holy Lance that pierced Jesus on the cross (allegedly).

Pieces of the cross Jesus was crucified on (allegedly).

Zvartnots Cathedral is located halfway between Yerevan and Etchmiadzin. It was built in the 7th century by Catholicos Nerses III at the spot where St. Gregory allegedly baptized Tiridates III.

Garni Temple is 30 km east of Yerevan. It was built in the 1st century by Tiridates I. Historians think it was funded by the Roman Emperor Nero and was devoted to the Zoroastrian god Mithra.

Geghard Monastery is another 10 km east of Garni. It was founded in in the 4th century by St. Gregory at the site of a holy spring. Geghard means spear, and the monastery bears this name because the Holy Spear used to be housed here before it was moved to Etchmiadzin.

Much of the monastery is hewn out of rock, but it bears little resemblance to the cave monastery at Vardzia.

Now I'm back in Akhaltsikhe. Time for school!

Yerevan

Mother Armenia (formerly Father Stalin), conveniently loced next to a Soviet era theme park.

This weekend I visited Yerevan and some of the surrounding sites.

Train Station

King Argishti I of Urartu, founder of Erebuni Fortress and Yerevan

The Urartu Kingdom was centered around Lake Van (in modern day Turkey). It existed from ~900-600 B.C.

The protector of the Erebuni Museum.

Cuneiform: "By the glory of the God Khaldi, Sarduri son of Argishti built this granary."

One of the two supreme gods of the Urartu religion

There was plenty of graffiti at the fortress.

Erebuni Fortress is also called the Fortress of Blood.

Cuneiform amid the walls

The view from Erebuni Fortress. Yerevan is called the Pink City because of the local pink granite commonly used as a building material.

The Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant produces around 40% of Armenia's electricity... and is the oldest model of nuclear power plant. The Armenians like to live dangerously.

Countryside next to Yerevan

The Cascade. Inside is an escalator surrounded by modern art exhibitions. Behind the Cascade is the Monument to the 50th Anniversary of Soviet Armenia.

A statue made by Fernando Botero. I think he has a nice mustache.

The Matenadaran is one of the leading ancient manuscript repositories in the world.

So wise.

A 10th century Bible with an ivory binding.

An Armenian map from the 12th century showing the world to be round, with Jerusalem at its center. Definitive evidence of Earth's shape wasn't available until the 16th century after Magellan circumnavigated the globe.

A translation of the map.

BAMF

Though Yerevan looks pretty Soviet and dour from far away, the center of the city is quite pleasant, and of similar quality to a Western European capital.

The city wasn't without its quirks. I'm of the opinion you shouldn't mix stuffed animals and cigarettes in claw machines.

The Beretta store on the main street.

The Armenian Genocide Memorial (Tsitsernakaberd). The museum here proves beyond a reasonable doubt (with, among other things, graphic pictures) that the Young Turks, the ruling party of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, perpetrated a genocide against the Empire's Armenian minority. That being said, it is unfortunate that no context is given to the Armenian Genocide (the Armenians sided with the Russians during the war in an attempt to break away from the Ottoman Empire, and ~200,000 Armenians fought for the Russians) and that Allied propaganda against the Ottoman Empire is used to supplement the historic proof of the Genocide.

A soundtrack of an Armenian woman singing laments for the dead plays at this touching memorial.

The Karen Demichyan Complex, also known as Dr. Seuss's Mansion, unfortunately located next to the Genocide Memorial.

St. Sargis Vicarial Church, a good example of Armenian religious architecture

I also took a tour of the world famous Yerevan Brandy Company, which produces Ararat Congac (now relegated to a brandy because of French snobs).

The company was state owned until 1998 when it was privatized and sold to French investors.

Yerevan has the most value of any city I have been to. There is a plethora of historic sites to visit, the night life is excellent, and the restaurants are delicious and diverse. It costs $15-$30 a night for a decent hotel, $5 for a meal at a nice cafe, and $1 for a 30 km bus ride. With so much to do and see at so little cost, I plan on returning once more before I leave the Caucuses.