SIGHTSEEING IN ARMENIA

Armenia is a mountainous country with an average elevation of 1,800m above sea level. The lowest elevations are more than 400m above sea level. With over 5,000 cultural and architectural monuments throughout the country, Armenia has been described as an open air museum.

Armenia is a land of stark contrasts and home to a resilient, industrious people with great love for the arts and sciences. Armenians are well-known for their hospitality and visitors will find a pleasant and friendly atmosphere everywhere they go.

Yerevan is the capital of Armenia. It is cultural, economical, political and scientific center of Armenia. Yerevan is located in a mountainous area on the Hrazdan river. There are many theatres, museums and monuments in Yerevan. It's impossible to imagine now Yerevan without Matenadaran, Opera and Ballet theatre, Youth Palace, Sport and Concert Complex and National Academy of Sciences.
From monuments the best is monument to the victims of Genocide which stands high above the city in the beautiful park called Martlet's Fortress. There are also several institutes of higher learning in capital, such as Yerevan State University, Medicine Institute, Polytechnic University and so on.

Republic Square is in the center of the city and is dominated by government buildings. Singing fountains of colored jets of water are a major attraction in the square, along with the Museum of the History of Armenia, the National Gallery of Art and the Armenia Hotel. The climate of Yerevan is rather sharp. It is cold in winter and hot in summer. One of the worlds oldest cities, Yerevan is nearly 2,800 years old. It is 50 years older than Rome.

Erebouni

In 782 B.C. the Urartian King Argishtis built the Erebouni citadel. Today on this place stands the present capital of the Republic of Armenia - Yerevan.
A large part of the Erebouni fortification had been reconstructed by 1968 when the city celebrated the 2750th anniversary of its foundation. The well-preserved walls permitted the complete reproduction of the layout of Erebouni.


Tsitsernakaberd park

It's situated on the Tsitsernakaberd hill. On its top Genocide memorial and museum are situated. Genocide memorial is one of the most impressive monuments in Yerevan. It consist of the memorial wall on which you can see the names of the cities where Armenians where killed, the Eternal fire and obelisk - the symbol of divided nation and its renaissance. Eternal fire is always burning in the center of the memorial. 12 granite pylons bend over it symbolizing the regions where the massacre took place in 1915.Every year in April 24 thousands of people come here to put flowers and to show that they remember the victims of the genocide.

In 1997 Genocide Museum was founded near the Genocide memorial. Here we can get acquainted with pictures, documents, evidences about the awful events of 1915-1918.

Sevan

The largest and highest lake in the Transcaucasus, Sevan holds a special place in the heart of the land-locked Armenian nation. With its cool azure waters and fresh mountain air, it a popular place to which Armenians escape in the summer when the heat of Yerevan becomes oppressive. It is a popular holiday resort with numerous beaches, hotels, restaurants and sports facilities dotted around the lake. Lake Sevan is famous for its 'ishkan' trout and other freshwater fish.

In recent times Lake Sevan has shrunk due to the tapping of the Razdan river, used for hydroelectricity and irrigation.

Sevan monastery built in 874 on a small peninsula overlooking the lake, is a wonderful example of Armenian architecture and is especially picturesque. In the spring the mountainsides are covered in a carpet of wild flowers.

Zvartnots

The ruins of the outstanding temple at Zvarnots, built in 7th century , are still being found not far from Echmiadzin. The temple stood for 300 years, and was destroyed in a disastrous earthquake. However, the ruins of this luxurious building speak of its majestic beauty and richness.

The complex consisted of St. George temple or Zvartnots ("vigil forces", "celestial angels") and the palace of Katholikos Nerses Ill, known as "Builder".

Zvartnots, buiIt as Armenia’s main cathedral in 641—661, was to suppress Echmiadzin cathedral by its grandeur.

Echmiatsin

The Mother See of Holy Echmiatsin is the pre-eminent center of authority in the worldwide Armenian Apostolic Church. It is where the Katholikos of All Armenians lives. Echmiatsin located near the capital of Yerevan in the Republic of Armenia, it is composed of

(a) the Mother Cathedral of the entire Armenian Church;

(b) a monastery and monastic brotherhood;

(c) the residence of the Catholicos of All Armenians; and

(d) various religious and cultural institutions, such as the Kevorkian Theological Seminary and a museum.

The cathedral dates back to the 4th century, and is reckoned the oldest Christian cathedral in world. The church, built in 480, is located in a walled compound with gardens and various structures. Echmiatsin means The coming of the only begotten because it was built were people said Jesus Himself descended from heaven to show where He wanted a church built.

Garni

Garni, the pagan temple of the sun, is picturesquely located outside of Yerevan and has been completely restored. Once the summer residence of the kings of Armenia, it originally stood within a fortress of which only massive ruins remain. The Garni temple is an outstanding monument of Hellenistic culture in Armenia.

Gegard

Monastery of Ayrivank or Gegard is situated in a wild narrow mountain gorge of extraordinary beauty. Founded in the fourth century, but architectural monuments that survived belonged, for the most part, to the twelfth-thirteenth centuries. The first church (architect: Galdzag, 1283) was hewn in an ancient cave where there was a spring gushing from the rock, which had been held sacred since time immemorial.

Khachkars

From the ninth century on began to appear the khachchkars, a most interesting and unusual variety of a memorial stile. They owe their name to the cross or khach, which was carved on the stele. They were generally installed in the courtyards of churches or monasteries. Some were inset in the walls of religions buildings.

Haghartsin Monastery (10-13th cc).

Tatev Monastery (9 -13th cc.)

Haghbat Monastery (10-13th cc.)