Armenia is a country of ancient monasteries

The monastery of Khor Virap at the foot of Ararat

Khor Virap monastery, located near the border with Turkey, at the foot of Ararat. It offers stunning views of Ararat. The monastery was built in the XVII century and is situated over an underground prison where according to tradition, the Armenian king Trdat III was kept in the prison of St. Gregory the Illuminator as 13 years. Hence the name of the monastery, which in translation from Armenian means "deep pit".



The Monastery Of Khor Virap

Behind the barbed wire fence, a distance of less than a kilometer – Turkey. Along the fence are guard towers. So Armenians can admire the symbol of his people, mount Ararat, only from afar.



mount Ararat

Near the monastery, as usual in Armenia, there are beautiful ornamental crosses-khachkars.



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Armenian khachkars

We spend the night on the hill opposite the monastery with stunning views of Ararat and Khor Virap himself.

25 Khor Virap – Noravank – Tatev
The Armenian Church and monastic architecture impressed me, and we go on to look at its beautiful monuments, the monasteries of Tatev and Noravank.



Noravank Monastery

The road to Noravank we got fun, we got picked up by two guys on the truck "Diaper". It was almost the only one we met Armenians who hardly spoke in Russian. But they kindly made a detour from the main road and together we went to see the monastery, which we understand according to their story, baptized one of them.
I must say that everyone we've seen Armenian monasteries has its own special flavor and color. For example, Gerhard was built of dark gray and brown stone, Khor Virap mainly of red, Noravank monastery was dominated by sand and Sunny yellow. The time of construction of the monastery dates back to XIII century. Very beautiful and the road to the monastery, which runs in a narrow winding gorge of the ARPA river. The canyon walls are many caves, also visible from the road as cliff falls is a beautiful narrow waterfall.



Noravank Monastery

After Noravank we go to Tatev. The road leads through the high pass on the many turns of the serpentine road, as the road is disgusting, terribly shaken. The direction of our movement – to the South-East, towards the Iranian border and the disputed territories of Nagorno-Karabakh.
But a visit to Karabakh in our plans this time was not included, still had concerns about the safety of this event, and the time is running out for the weather, it was clear that autumn comes. At the lock near the aerial tramway at an elevation of about 1800 m. for the first journey out of the backpack, a hat and gloves.



Tatev Monastery

Tatev is one of the most beautiful monasteries of Armenia, included in the world heritage list of UNESCO. Founded in 895-906 city suffered Greatly from an earthquake in 1931. Currently, the monastery is not valid on the territory of the reconstruction and restoration work. In 2010 there was opened the longest non-stop reversible aerial tramway called "Wings of Tatev", a length of 5.7 km, passing through Vorotan gorge to the monastery.



Tatev Monastery

The tickets for the cable car pulled out of the us more than half our entire Armenian budget, 3,000 drams per person (approximately 60 USD). This price includes a return ticket, what to descend in the opposite direction not necessarily on the same day, which is very convenient, because the ticket in one direction costs 2000 drams.
A cable car moving over the picturesque verdant gorge for about 12 minutes, sweet girl spends a brief tour, talking about the device itself, the cable car, and local attractions.
Upstairs, inspect the monastery from the inside, collecting water and become for the night on the hill above the monastery with a beautiful view around.



The ropeway "Wings of Tatev"

Day 26 Tatev – Sevan lake
Early in the morning past our Parking lot shepherd driving a flock of sheep grazing. We are going to go on the descent to the cable car, which starts with 10 hours. Cloudy weather, blows a strong cold wind. On the track we picks up the truck with Karabakh, all the way they convince us that they are now quite safe, the war is over, but the economy is certainly in decline, and abroad anywhere except Armenia to Karabagh passport is not to get In the truck... I suddenly find a small gray kitten, the driver says he has no idea where it came from, probably also cat-hitchhiker.
Going to Yeghegnadzor town on the main road is in Yerevan, and we are on the route right turn to lake Sevan, but is caught there is very bad the majority of cars go to neighboring villages. Finally hopped on 5-7 km in the passenger car to catch the truck, traveling in the right direction in the city of Martuni. It passing the Selim pass, altitude of about 2300 m., the views from it are amazing! The pass is also a historical building, an ancient caravanserai. Further from Martuni we drive along the shores of lake Sevan, looking for a place to stay overnight and be in the Bush on the shore just before reaching the monastery of Hayravank.
Evening on the lake is very cold, the sky is covered in a dense layer of dark clouds. The shore of the lake is very dirty because of the cows grazing here, nor bathe nor drink from this lake we didn't want, but to gain enough drinking water in bottles for some reason we forgot, so the next day stay without Breakfast.

Day 27 lake Sevan – Dilijan – Noyemberyan — Haghpat

Wake up in the morning to the sound of rain, wait until it subsides a little. Coming out of the tent to find that in the mountains above the lake, literally 300 metres above the snow. I stop to see ancient monasteries, located on the shore of the lake, Hayravank and Sevanavank, but they have not impressed as much as the previous one.



The monastery on lake Sevan



The monastery on lake Sevan

From the town of Sevan catch the car in Noyemberyan. The driver tells a long story about the beauty of a popular Armenian mountain resort of Dilijan. Well, as we understand it, is something like our Sochi. It is also interesting that the road from Sevan to Dilijan tunnel goes through the mountains, and on different sides of this tunnel there is, completely different climate. From Sevan's often much cooler, cloudy and rainy in Dilijan to late autumn is dominated by warm Sunny weather. Once out of the tunnel, we had the opportunity to personally verify the veracity of this natural phenomenon, indeed the weather has become much nicer.
From Noyemberyan to the border with Georgia, where we intend to go tomorrow, is some 15 km away, but as time, we still have decided to make one more trip to the monastery of Haghpat, which is also included in the world heritage list of UNESCO. Here, through the beautiful gorge of the river Derbent, lucky for us our fellow countryman on the Ukrainian truck. Could zatopit the car even up to the monastery, but the bottom has had to go 5 km. on foot. Haghpat monastery itself was quite beautiful, but the lack of it compared to the others in that it is located right in the centre of the village and it is difficult to find an outdoor panoramic view.



Visible Haghpat monastery

The night I decided to look down the road, but later found that the gorge is so narrow that the road almost immediately ends at the river. Hardly found on the shore behind the bushes a small Playground just below our tent, where he remained for the night. Today we say goodbye to ancient Armenia and tomorrow morning getting ready to go to Georgia, all the way to the capital, Tbilisi.



Small and Large Ararat

Source: bookvachka.org.ua/node/63