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DISCOVERING THE FORGOTTEN HOLY LAND. ARMENIA
ARMENPRESS
MARCH 24, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: The Wall Street Journal dwells on
Armenian history, its reach cultural heritage and ancient Armenian
monasteries, reports Armenpress citing The Wall Street Journal.
The Armenian man let loose a single musical note. It ricocheted
between the 1,000-year-old stone walls of Haghpat Monastery, echoes
transforming his warm, lonely voice into a full symphony.
If time has a sound, it sounds like Haghpat, one of the
world""s greatest religious shrines-and also one of the least
explored.Armenia""""s cities are filled with grim industrial
buildings. Hundreds of miles of barbed wire separate it from Turkey,
from whom it is still awaiting an apology for a 1915 genocide.
Relations with neighboring Azerbaijan remain fractured.The bulk of
Armenian tourists are, in fact, Armenians, who scattered after World
War I and through later years of economic decay.Yet it is this tangle
of histories and enmity that makes Armenia such a compelling place
to visit, as my wife and I learned when we spent a week there last
summer. Men roast giant pots of corn by the roadside; Armani-clad
hustlers share streets with farmers wearing thick, Soviet-era suits.
And magnificent, soot-stained monasteries like Haghpat and Geghard,
which was carved into the side of a mountain, still preside atop green
valleys.With its gilded and vaulted spaces, the Vatican implores its
visitors to be inspired. Haghpat doesn""""t have to try so hard.
It and sister monastery Sanahin, which form a Unesco World Heritage
site, are little visited on Armenia""""s back roads. From the outside,
Haghpat looks like a jumbled castle whose owners keep randomly adding
on wings and storerooms. Inside, towering arches are caked with a
patina of soot, mold and plain old dirt. Birds roam throughout the
many rooms, their tweets echoing among the stones. The sparse walls
once held a series of religious murals and paintings.
Most were scrubbed off by the Soviets, though a few splashes of red
and blue peek through the grime.
As we explored the complex, we trod on tombs and crypts laid down
century by century. Most feature the ancient Armenian script, surely
describing the pious and glamorous of the day. Some are simpler,
depicting only the most basic outline of an adult"s body-or a child""s.
To pray at Haghpat is to offer thanks for our short time here; to
know that our tombstones will one day be flooring; and to respect how
a rock arch can plant itself in the ground and not let go of the sky.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
ARMENPRESS
MARCH 24, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: The Wall Street Journal dwells on
Armenian history, its reach cultural heritage and ancient Armenian
monasteries, reports Armenpress citing The Wall Street Journal.
The Armenian man let loose a single musical note. It ricocheted
between the 1,000-year-old stone walls of Haghpat Monastery, echoes
transforming his warm, lonely voice into a full symphony.
If time has a sound, it sounds like Haghpat, one of the
world""s greatest religious shrines-and also one of the least
explored.Armenia""""s cities are filled with grim industrial
buildings. Hundreds of miles of barbed wire separate it from Turkey,
from whom it is still awaiting an apology for a 1915 genocide.
Relations with neighboring Azerbaijan remain fractured.The bulk of
Armenian tourists are, in fact, Armenians, who scattered after World
War I and through later years of economic decay.Yet it is this tangle
of histories and enmity that makes Armenia such a compelling place
to visit, as my wife and I learned when we spent a week there last
summer. Men roast giant pots of corn by the roadside; Armani-clad
hustlers share streets with farmers wearing thick, Soviet-era suits.
And magnificent, soot-stained monasteries like Haghpat and Geghard,
which was carved into the side of a mountain, still preside atop green
valleys.With its gilded and vaulted spaces, the Vatican implores its
visitors to be inspired. Haghpat doesn""""t have to try so hard.
It and sister monastery Sanahin, which form a Unesco World Heritage
site, are little visited on Armenia""""s back roads. From the outside,
Haghpat looks like a jumbled castle whose owners keep randomly adding
on wings and storerooms. Inside, towering arches are caked with a
patina of soot, mold and plain old dirt. Birds roam throughout the
many rooms, their tweets echoing among the stones. The sparse walls
once held a series of religious murals and paintings.
Most were scrubbed off by the Soviets, though a few splashes of red
and blue peek through the grime.
As we explored the complex, we trod on tombs and crypts laid down
century by century. Most feature the ancient Armenian script, surely
describing the pious and glamorous of the day. Some are simpler,
depicting only the most basic outline of an adult"s body-or a child""s.
To pray at Haghpat is to offer thanks for our short time here; to
know that our tombstones will one day be flooring; and to respect how
a rock arch can plant itself in the ground and not let go of the sky.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress