Tweet
STUNNING ARMENIA, A FASCINATING GLIMPSE INTO NOAH'S LAND (ONE OF TWO PARTS)
Sun Star, The Philippines
Oct 15 2014
WRITING about my recent trip to Armenia is not going to be easy -
there are just too many great experiences to note down!
Friends and family were wondering what got into our heads when we
decided to go there. Where and what is there to do? And why of all
places Armenia? You'll soon see why. Armenia is honestly one of the
most gorgeous countries I've been to.
Brief background
Armenia is right smack in the middle of four other nations: Turkey,
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran. It's made up of mostly landmass and is
not bordered by any seas. It is a dominantly Christian country and was
the first in the world to adopt Christianity as their state religion.
It is also one of the oldest countries in the world. It is known as
Noah's land, for in the bible it is said that his ark came to rest
on Mt. Ararat:
In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark
rested upon the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8:5)
The sights
The moment we landed in Yerevan, we immediately saw a rather faint,
but rather clear outline of Mt. Ararat. We also saw it from above,
while on the plane, and it got us so excited to see the famed mountain
of Noah on the very first day.
Yerevan is such a beautiful city. It had a very European feel,
is clean, modern but with touches of culture and architecture from
another era. Our hotel was located at Republic Square. At night, the
scene transformed. Imagine the sight with fountains, lit up buildings
and Andrea Bocelli's Time to Say Goodbye playing in the background. It
was gorgeous! The city is also called the rose colored capital because
most of its buildings are built in a pink shade of "tuf" stone.
We spent the majority of the trip in Yerevan and would just drive
out every day to visit the sights. The Armenian countryside is very
pleasant and each drive always yielded different views.
One fun thing we did while on one of our drives out to the tourist
sites was to stop by the road and pick up some obsidian. There is so
much of it in the country!
The monasteries
A lot of the sights that we went to were monasteries. I'll have to
say I was pretty much blown away almost every time I visited a new one.
Each one had a more fantastic location than the last. There were
dramatic backdrops like gorges, valleys and mountains, while locations
were usually in the middle of nowhere.
One of the first ones we visited were the churches that were
overlooking Lake Sevan. This lake is the largest body of water in
Armenia and is situated pretty high above sea level at 1,900 meters.
The next was the Khor Virap monastery. This was supposed to be where
you could get the best views of Mt. Ararat and its snowy peaks, but it
was covered with fog on the day that we went. There were some vendors
selling doves, which you could release in the direction of Mt. Ararat.
Sounded like another one of those tourist traps, but of course,
one of my sisters still bought one. Why not though, right? When else
can you say you released a dove out into a biblical mountain? It was
still a fun and funny experience (She had to carry the bird up lots
of steps and it would not stop twitching!).
Khor Virap also had St. Gregory the Illuminator's underground pit. St.
Gregory is the country's patron saint and is credited for converting
Armenia from paganism to Christianity.
The next monastery, Noravank, was my favorite. The mountains
surrounding it were all red rock and jagged stones.
A visit to Geghard Monastery, which is carved from a single rock, was
a must. It had really amazing acoustics, that when one person sings,
it sounds like a whole choir! We also went to Sanahin and Haghpat
monasteries, both of which are Unesco World Heritage Sites.
Saghmosavank Monastery is a monastery that is perched at the edge of
the precipitous gorge of the Kasakh river. Celyn Sala
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/lifestyle/2014/10/15/stunning-armenia-fascinating-glimpse-noah-s-land-one-two-parts-371144
From: Baghdasarian
Sun Star, The Philippines
Oct 15 2014
WRITING about my recent trip to Armenia is not going to be easy -
there are just too many great experiences to note down!
Friends and family were wondering what got into our heads when we
decided to go there. Where and what is there to do? And why of all
places Armenia? You'll soon see why. Armenia is honestly one of the
most gorgeous countries I've been to.
Brief background
Armenia is right smack in the middle of four other nations: Turkey,
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran. It's made up of mostly landmass and is
not bordered by any seas. It is a dominantly Christian country and was
the first in the world to adopt Christianity as their state religion.
It is also one of the oldest countries in the world. It is known as
Noah's land, for in the bible it is said that his ark came to rest
on Mt. Ararat:
In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark
rested upon the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8:5)
The sights
The moment we landed in Yerevan, we immediately saw a rather faint,
but rather clear outline of Mt. Ararat. We also saw it from above,
while on the plane, and it got us so excited to see the famed mountain
of Noah on the very first day.
Yerevan is such a beautiful city. It had a very European feel,
is clean, modern but with touches of culture and architecture from
another era. Our hotel was located at Republic Square. At night, the
scene transformed. Imagine the sight with fountains, lit up buildings
and Andrea Bocelli's Time to Say Goodbye playing in the background. It
was gorgeous! The city is also called the rose colored capital because
most of its buildings are built in a pink shade of "tuf" stone.
We spent the majority of the trip in Yerevan and would just drive
out every day to visit the sights. The Armenian countryside is very
pleasant and each drive always yielded different views.
One fun thing we did while on one of our drives out to the tourist
sites was to stop by the road and pick up some obsidian. There is so
much of it in the country!
The monasteries
A lot of the sights that we went to were monasteries. I'll have to
say I was pretty much blown away almost every time I visited a new one.
Each one had a more fantastic location than the last. There were
dramatic backdrops like gorges, valleys and mountains, while locations
were usually in the middle of nowhere.
One of the first ones we visited were the churches that were
overlooking Lake Sevan. This lake is the largest body of water in
Armenia and is situated pretty high above sea level at 1,900 meters.
The next was the Khor Virap monastery. This was supposed to be where
you could get the best views of Mt. Ararat and its snowy peaks, but it
was covered with fog on the day that we went. There were some vendors
selling doves, which you could release in the direction of Mt. Ararat.
Sounded like another one of those tourist traps, but of course,
one of my sisters still bought one. Why not though, right? When else
can you say you released a dove out into a biblical mountain? It was
still a fun and funny experience (She had to carry the bird up lots
of steps and it would not stop twitching!).
Khor Virap also had St. Gregory the Illuminator's underground pit. St.
Gregory is the country's patron saint and is credited for converting
Armenia from paganism to Christianity.
The next monastery, Noravank, was my favorite. The mountains
surrounding it were all red rock and jagged stones.
A visit to Geghard Monastery, which is carved from a single rock, was
a must. It had really amazing acoustics, that when one person sings,
it sounds like a whole choir! We also went to Sanahin and Haghpat
monasteries, both of which are Unesco World Heritage Sites.
Saghmosavank Monastery is a monastery that is perched at the edge of
the precipitous gorge of the Kasakh river. Celyn Sala
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/lifestyle/2014/10/15/stunning-armenia-fascinating-glimpse-noah-s-land-one-two-parts-371144
From: Baghdasarian