We’ve been travelling through the Caucasus countries as part of our tour of the Silk Road. After recently visiting Georgia we crossed the border into Armenia, the last stop on our Silk Road odyssey. Armenia is a republic of around 3 million people with a history that dates back to the 6th century BC. Our first stop in this ancient country was the interesting black city of Gyumri in northwestern Armenia.
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| The black city of Gyumri, Armenia |
Gyumri’s black colour comes from the local stone called tuff, which is produced as a result of a volcanic eruption. It is known as the national stone of Armenia and everything from houses to religious sites is built from tuff. Around 28 colours have been identified and in Gyumri, the predominant colour used in buildings, is black.
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| A pedestrian street in the black city of Gyumri, Armenia |
To visit this black city, we’d left Georgia and crossed the border into Armenia by taxi. However, our taxi driver got a little lost trying to find our hotel in Gyumri, so sought directions from a woman in the street. In an amazing bit of luck, that woman happened to be the English teacher for the family that owned our hotel, so she called them and they guided us to the right address.
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| The very European-style city of Gyumri, Armenia |
The hotel was in Gyumri’s city centre and we were soon out exploring. Gyumri was flattened by an earthquake in 1988 during Armenia’s Soviet period, and had to be completely re-built. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 slowed the re-building effort. However, with aid from around the world, Gyumri recovered and is now a very vibrant city and Armenia’s 2nd largest (pop. 112,000) after the capital Yerevan.
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| Museums of: poetry; ceramics; art (top). Apartment and Cathedral (below) |
Over the next few days, we saw a lot of Gyumri, including museums (of which there are many); apartments in the historic centre; the cathedral and other buildings on Freedom Square (a huge square in the town centre); the market, and more. We loved Gyumri and its coloured buildings, architecture, people, and food.
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| Armenian band playing traditional instruments, Gyumri, Armenia |
At a restaurant one night, we enjoyed classic Armenian food and wine to the accompaniment of a traditional Armenian band. But the next morning was sobering as our hotel hosts told us about the fears they and many Armenian families have, about the Russian war with Ukraine. Having once been Russian citizens, their sons are still able to be called up to serve in the Russian Army. Sadly, it was a chilling story that we’d heard in all of the other Silk Road countries we’d been to on this trip.
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| Pink tuff apartment building in Vanadzor, Armenia |
When it was time to move on, again, we chose a taxi as our transport. Long distance transport is limited to the major cities in most of the countries we’d been to on this trip, and a taxi service has been the best way for us get from town to town. We were headed to Vanadzor, Armenia's 3rd largest city (77,000 people) and the capital of the Lori Region. Much of Vanadzor is built in pink tuff, but we weren’t there to see the city, our focus was on some historic churches north of Vanadzor.
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| Haghpat Monastery (UNESCO), Lori, Armenia |
Armenia, was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity, and it is home to many of the world’s oldest churches and monasteries. So the morning after we arrived at our quaint guest house in Vanadzor, the owner drove us and a visiting Russian family, to see two UNESCO monasteries. The first was Haghpat Monastery, one of the few functioning monasteries in Armenia.
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| Marg inside Haghpat Monastery (UNESCO), Lori, Armenia |
It is thought that Haghpat Monastery was founded in 976. It has been damaged by earthquakes and wars over the years, and had some restoration work done in 1130. But amazingly, most of it is still intact with almost no alterations to its black stone structure. The architecture of this monastery has put it on the UNESCO list. We found this monastery dark, austere, and evocative, suggesting that it has some amazing stories to tell.
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| Sanahin Monastery (UNESCO), Lori, Armenia |
Our next stop was at nearby Sanahin Monastery built in 966 and also a UNESCO site because of its architecture. Sanahin is a large complex consisting of several churches, a seminary and library. We wandered around there for ages admiring the architecture of its various buildings, and the amazing engravings in its black stone.
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| Odzun Monastery, Lori, Armenia |
A third place we visited was the 6th century Odzun Monastery in the small village of Odzun (4,000 people). This attractive structure has some lovely carvings in its stonework and is quite well preserved, although it has had several restorations over the years. We drove through the Debed Canyon to access all three monasteries, seeing lush trees, dramatic rocks, and ghostly abandoned buildings from the Soviet era.
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| The unusual external arcaded cloisters of Odzun Monastery, Lori, Armenia |
The mother of the Russian family that accompanied us, was worried about her son the same as the Gyumri hotel family. It seems that all Russian males from age 18, are required to do one year of military service or undertake higher education. Her son had gone into the military, seen action in the Russian war with Ukraine, and come home a different person. It was sad but interesting getting a Russian mother’s view of the war situation.
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| Marg at Haghartsin Monastery near Dilijan, Armenia |
Leaving Vanadzor, we headed to Armenia’s capital Yerevan, aiming to sightsee on the way. We booked a taxi to our first sight, Dilijan, thinking that we’d have to get a new taxi in between each sight until we reached Yerevan. But our lovely driver took us all the way, waiting for us at each place. In Dilijan, we saw the Haghartsin Monastery built between the 10th and 13th centuries. It is famous for its decorated porticos which were lovely.
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| Monasteries of Haghartsin and Goshavank (top). Sevanavank and Lake Sevan (below) |
We drove up a steep winding road to reach this isolated monastery, nestled in a lush mountain forest. Close by was the Goshavank Monastery built in the 12–13th-century and located in the village of Gosh. Next, we drove south to Lake Sevan, Armenia’s largest lake where we visited the Sevanavank Monastery, a UNESCO site that dates back to 874. Sevanavank was shrouded in mist from the broody Lake Sevan, making it very eerie. The climb up to this monastery was a killer, but so worth it.
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| Beautiful Yerevan, Armenia |
We had planned to have a lake-fish lunch at Lake Sevan; however, our kind Armenian driver had other ideas and took us to a gigantic new food mall in the hills. Aaah well – lost in translation! We had a nice but not lake-fish lunch, then drove on. Finally we reached Yerevan, nicknamed the ‘Pink City’ for the pinkish-coloured tuff stone used in its buildings. It is the capital of Armenia and its largest city (pop around 1 mil).
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| Our Soviet-style apartment block in Yerevan, Armenia |
At this stage, we’d already fallen in love with Armenia, its European-ness, the drinkable water, the friendly people, and its history, but Yerevan was a notch up. We’d rented an apartment for a week and although it was in an old Soviet-style building with a manky entrance, the apartment itself was lovely and we had great views of the city and its treed streets.
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| The Yerevan City Supermarket, Armenia |
We wasted no time in getting out to look around. One of our first stops was the local supermarket. We found a small one for our first night's supplies, but the next day, found the Yerevan City Supermarket and it was fabulous with a quantity and range of food that you would normally see only in an open-air market. Nearby, there were many restaurants including lovely top-end ones, lots of leafy parks, and a metro.
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| Moscow Cinema; Nat Opera & Ballet Thtre (top). Street; Cascade (below), Yerevan, Armenia |
Over our time in Yerevan, we saw many sights including the Soviet-era Moscow Cinema; the National Opera and Ballet Theatre on Freedom Square; the massive set of steps called the Cascade Complex; Republic Square with its beautiful curved buildings; St Anna Church; the Blue Mosque, lots of fountains and leafy streets, and so much more. Yerevan is a vibrant cosmopolitan city and we loved it.
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| Oldest cathedral in the world, Echmiadzin Cathedral (UNESCO), Armenia |
There is a lot to see in Armenia, and we were barely scratching the surface. However, while in Yerevan, we took the chance to go beyond the city limits on a couple of outings. First, we managed to get ourselves onto the correct bus to visit the Echmiadzin UNESCO World Heritage Site where we saw the imposing Echmiadzin Cathedral. It is the oldest cathedral in the world dating back to 303 AD.
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| Churches: St Gayane & St. Hripsime (top). Shoghakat & Holy Archangels (below) |
The Echmiadzin UNESCO site includes many churches such as the 7th-century St Gayane Church, the 7th-century St. Hripsime Church, the 17th century Shoghakat Church, and the 21st century round Holy Archangels Church. At the end of our day, we were waiting at the bus stop to return to Yerevan when a rumpty old taxi pulled up offering a fare that we couldn’t refuse! So, we got home pretty quickly sharing the taxi with other people who hopped on and off along the way.
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| The walled Khor Virap Monastery, Ararat, Armenia |
Our next outing out of Yerevan was on a guided tour, and our first stop was Khor Virap Monastery. Established in 642 CE, Khor Virap is enclosed by a fortified wall and sits on a chain of hills on the Ararat Plain near the border with Turkey. It’s famous for being the place where Saint Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned before being released and spreading Christianity throughout Armenia. Gregory is now the patron saint of Armenia.
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| Mt Ararat, Turkey, see from Armenia |
From Khor Virap, we had a spectacular view of Mount Ararat of Noah’s Ark fame. However, there was a mist about the mountain and our view of Ararat’s summit was spoiled by a bit cloud that hung around all day. Next, we stopped briefly at Azat Reservoir, a man-made lake built to provide irrigation. Leaving there, we drove through two villages that are called ‘stork villages’ because storks make their messy nest on the top of power-poles and roofs there.
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| Garni Temple, Garni, Armenia |
Our next stop was the Garni Temple, the only standing Greco-Roman colonnaded building in Armenia. It dates back to 77 AD as a temple to the sun god Mihr. Over the centuries it's had many other lives and has been reconstructed a few times, but it still has its magic. This is partly due to its location at the top of a triangular-shaped clifftop giving great views of the river valley below. At the temple, we also saw Bronze Age masonry, a Roman bath, ruins of a palace and other artifacts. It was very interesting.
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| Woman working lavash dough ready to cook in the in-ground tonir (UNESCO) |
While in Garni we had lunch, and a demonstration by two women in lavash making (Armenian bread). While one rolled out a round of dough, the other would skilfully swing it around until it was oval, three-times its original size, and very, very thin. To cook it, she would place it on a paddle and slap it onto the inside of an in-ground tonir (like an Indian tandoor). Lavash-making is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage activity. We’d eaten it many times in Armenia but it was a treat seeing it being made.
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| Geghard Monastery (UNESCO), Upper Azat Valley, Armenia |
Our next stop was the Geghard Monastery founded in the 4th century by Gregory the Illuminator. It’s built into the rock to blend with its surroundings, and it was great to explore all of its nooks and crannies. Our guide sang in the chapel to demonstrate its acoustics. Geghard is known for having the spear that wounded Christ on the Cross. For this reason, and the monastery’s architecture, the whole complex and the soaring cliffs around it are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Geghard Monastery (UNESCO), Upper Azat Valley, Armenia |
You may wonder why we visit so many religious buildings - it’s not about the religion! It’s about the structure, history, community, and geography. Often, religious places are still standing centuries after being built, because communities have the fervour and funds to maintain them in a way rarely seen in private and public buildings. Also, they display some of the world’s greatest art in the architecture, stonework, frescoes, and windows; and many are in remote and beautifully picturesque places such as with Geghard Monastery.
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| Beautiful Mt Ararat as we fly out of Armenia |
These places have a lot of stories to tell, and Armenia is at the forefront of minding them for future generations. We’ve loved being in Armenia. It is one of the safest countries in the world; there is no dress code, and we felt we could be ourselves more here than in the Islamic countries of Central Asia. Also, the food is great - we could find spinach on a menu here whereas the greens in other countries were limited to salads which we didn’t eat because we didn’t trust the water the greens are washed in.
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| The red roofs of Istanbul as we fly home to New Zealand |
The small Silk Road Caucasus countries of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, wedged between the Caucasus Mountains, Turkey, Iran and the Caspian Sea, have been a real joy to travel in. But, our travel along the Silk Road has now come to an end. So, we flew to Istanbul for a two-day rest, then flew home to New Zealand. But who knows what’s next – the travel bug is still biting and the road ahead is clear. Watch this space.
This blog is the last one in a series about our travels along the Silk Road of Central Asia and the Caucasus countries. Follow this link to the first blog in the series.