Armenia has been considered a country of “roaming about” capitals. Indeed, due to historical circumstances Armenia has frequently changed her capital. Not taking into account the capitals of separate principalities and little kingdoms Armenia has had at least twelve capitals: Van, Armavir, Yervantashat, Artashat, Tigranakert, Vagharshapat, Dvin, Bagaran, Shirakavan, Kars, Ani, and Yerevan.

Yerevan

The present capital of Armenia, Yerevan, is one of the oldest cities in the world. Caves in the walls of the Hrazdan river gorge, particularly near the modern Yeravanian Lake, show traces of Stone Age habitation.

Last updated: 21 Sept 04

a r m e n i a

The substantial Chalcolithic settlement of Shengavit, scientifically of great importance for the prehistory of the whole region, is perched on the slope on the far side of the lake. There you will find the crumbling circular foundations of a number of rubble and mud-brick houses, once surrounded by a stone fortification wall and with an underground passage leading to the river. Four settlement phases have been identified, from the end of the 4th millennium B.C. to the beginning of the second millennium B.C. There are reasons to consider that the name Yerevan is the lineal descendant of Erebuni Citadel founded by Argishti I son of Menua, King of Urartu in the year 782 B.C. on the Erebuni in SE Yerevan. That is known on the basis of a cuneiform inscription discovered built into the fortification wall by the gate, an inscription which reads roughly as follows: "By the greatness of the god Khaldi, Argishti son of Menua built this great fortress, named it Erebuni, to the power of Biainili and the terror of its enemies. Argishti says: “…the land was waste, I undertook here great works...". Sadly, little remains to remind the visitor of the city's ancient heritage. Most of the old town was demolished in the 1930s, ostensibly to upgrade standards of public health but, according to locals, more crucially with a view to facilitating the policing of the city. The ruins of the Erebuni (means “victory) Citadel are in the southeastern part of Yerevan, on the Arin-Berd hill. Some parts of the Citadel’s structure were reinforced and restored and the Citadel was turned in an outdoor Erebuni Museum established in 1968 in connection with the 2,750th anniversary of Yerevan. It houses now 12,235 relicts from that part of Armenian history. About a century after Erebuni was built, in the first year of Urartian King Rusa II, the inhabitants of Erebuni seem to have relocated to a citadel they called Teishebai URU (City of the God Teisheba), the site now known as Karmir Blur ("Red Hill"). This site overlooks the Hrazdan river from a bluff downstream from Shengavit. The site takes its name from the huge pile of decomposed red mud-brick, some of which still sits atop the impressive stone foundations of the city wall. Yerevan's history fades away after Karmir Blur in terms of things to look at, with the early Armenian kings and Roman and Persian conquerors preferring Artaxiasata to the south and Vagharshapat/Echmiadzin to the north. The horrific earthquake of 1679 completed the destruction done by passing Arab, Mongol, Persian, and Ottoman armies over the centuries. Reconstituted in the 17th century as a Persian city-fortress guarding the marches with the Ottoman Empire, Yerevan was a key military/strategic point at the intersection of three empires. In Soviet Times Yerevan was rebuilt using the attractive pinkish-brown volcanic tufa stone seen throughout the republic, in so-called “Armenian national style”. Mount Ararat lies across the border in Turkey, although it is claimed as part of the territory of greater Armenia, and is where Noah's Ark is said to have settled after the Flood. Yerevan's History and Art Museum includes a section tracing the development of Armenian art from the 7th century to the present day. The history section features models and artifacts informing visitors about life in Armenia and the pre-Armenian state of Urartu. The Yerevan library of ancient manuscripts Materadaran houses over 12,000 texts, many beautifully illuminated and some dating as far back as the 9th century. The contents of the library testify to Armenia's long history of culture and education.
The Vernisaj flea market, which takes place at weekends, is very popular with tourists (see details: Visitor's Notepad).
Yerevan is the city of old and new monuments. Well known are the rich archeological spots of Yerevan, namely, Shengavit, valley of Hrazdan, Arin Berd, Karmir Blur, etc.The heart of the city is the Republic Square, which includes the governmental house. It is possible to see a spectacular view of Yerevan at the top of Haghtanak (Victory) Park, better known as the Monument. Located at the park is the statue of Mother Armenia, which can be seen at various points throughout the city. The “Armenia” Memorial-Architectural Complex (Cascade) is currently in the final stages of construction. It is build on the slope of the Kanaker Hill and comprises a cascade of five tiers of roofed halls, courtyards and plazas, fountains, and cafes flanked on tow sides by flights of stairs, The stairs or the escalators can be used to access the scenic view opening from the top. At one towering point of the many archeological spots, on the delightful altitude of Tzitzernakaberd, the Armenian nation has bult the monument of the victims of the Great Disaster (Genocide). The facsimile and the plan of the operatic theatre of Yerevan has won the Grad Prixn at the international exposition in Paris in 1937.

Echmiadzin (was added to Unesco’s World Heritage list in 2000)
In the year AD301, Armenia became the first country to adopt Christianity as the official state religion (with the exception of the now vanished kingdom of King Abgar of Edessa). Many of the most interesting sights in the republic are associated with the heritage of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Some 20km (12 miles) west of Yerevan, Echmiadzin was the capital of Armenia from AD180-340 and remains the site of the country's most important cathedral, and home of the church's Supreme Catholicos. The Cathedral of St Gregory the Illuminator is believed to be the most ancient Christaina temple of Armenia. It was built in 301-303 by Gregory Illuminator (Grigor Lusavorich) next to the kings palace, in place of a destroyed heathen basilica. The existing 17th-century cathedral build on the old one is a fine example of Armenian ecclesiastical architecture, with its squat bell tower and elaborately carved dome. In addition to chalices, vestments and other religious artefacts, the cathedral's treasury contains a spearhead believed to have been used to pierce the side of the crucified Christ, and a chunk of wood from Mount Ararat, claimed to be part of a plank from Noah's Ark. There are a number of other churches at Echmiadzin, including the excavated remains of the 7th-century Church of St Gregory at Zvartnots. The building, reputed to have been of extraordinary beauty, was largely destroyed probably by an earthquake in the 10th century.

Zvartnots (was added to Unesco’s World Heritage list in 2000)

Zvartnots, a complex of structures erected in the middle of the 7th century near Echmiadzin, is of extreme architectural value. 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. This purpose was served by the original architectural composition of the building which is an example of a central-dome temple different in its appearance from the antique and Byzantine structures of this kind. The plan of Zvartnots is based on the composition of the central nucleus of Armenia's cross-winged, dome-type structures of the previous times, that is the Greek cross. However, this cross is harmoniously fitted into a circle rather than into a square. Zvartnots’ architecture was supposed to impress the onlooker by its extraordinary artistic splendor. This determined the size of the temple, its layout and spatial arrangement, its structural features and its decoration which emphasized the central axis of the building and its upward sweep. According to Stepanos Taronatsi, an Armenian historian of the late 10th and the early 11th centuries, (Stepanos of Taron, known as Asokhik). Zvartnots lay in ruins as early as in the tenth century. He does not mention the cause of destruction. The remnants of Zvartnots, even In ruins, are a majestic sight. There survived only the lower parts of the walls and individual fragments, and scientists’ reconstructions of the temples original look vary. The best known reconstruction is that by T. Toromanian. According to this reconstruction, the building consisted of three polyhedrons. The lower one being 32-hedral and the upper one 16-hedral and crowned with a cone-shaped cupola. The central part of the interior had the shape of a tetraconch in the plan. In the joints between the apses there were mighty pylons which supported the drum of the cupola by means of spherical pendentives. Beyond the pylons there were columns arranged on the radial axis. They and the tops of the tetraconch’s semicircles buttressed the arches which served as the basis for the middle polyhedron. The tetraconch was surrounded by a two-storey gallery fenced on the outer side by a circular wall with closely spaced windows and, on the inner side, by an open arcade of the apses. The altar apse was blank. The heaviness of the cupola and of the middle polyhedron was conveyed by arches and vaults of double curvature to the pylons and columns of the apses. The decoration of Zvartnots temple followed the principle, common in the Armenian architecture of the 5th—7th centuries, of bringing out the basic architectural details:columns, door and window openings. cornices and archivolts. The outer surfaces of the polyhedrons, especially of the lower one, were ornamented with a rich arcature. The twin semi-columns were crowned with capitols with palmettes and acanthuses. On the whole, the motif of sculptural ornamentation, cut in high relief, was floral (a vine, stylized leaves, branches of pomegranate with fruit, etc.). The ornamental patterns are clear-cut, expressive, varied and unconstrainedly rhythmical. Standing out among them were interior column capitols of an original composition, shaped as wicker baskets with volutes and a cross or a monogram (with letters standing for "Nerses" and “Katholikos") between them and decorated with the figures of rampant eagles which seemed to support the cupola — a symbol of the firmament.
In the spandrels of the outer decorative areature of the bottom polyhedron there were half-length representations of men with building tools in their hands. Some researchers believe them to be portraits of builders (the name of “Ioann" is cut near one, presumably the main of them, on the archivolt), and others maintain these are the portraits of the founders of the temple. The portraits are distinguished by a realistic depiction of faces and clothes and by the individual features of the figures shown in various postures.
The rich and extraordinary interior decoration of the temple is evidenced, apart from the reliefs, by the pieces of vari-coloured smalt and tufa mosaic ornaments and fragments of murals which survived on remnants of plaster. These were found during the excavations of the altar part.
Before the construction of Zvartnots was completed, its architectural and artistic concept was embodied, by the selfsame Nerses III in the initially concentric temple in Ishkhan built in 652—659. Presumably, the architect of Zvartnots knew the Syrian and Byzantine architectural structures of the same kind. Zvartnots stands out for an unusual composition which differed from that of these structures. Syria and Byzantium had no structures of this type. This is confirmed by Movses Kalankatvatsi, a 10th century Armenian historian, who wrote about the intention of Emperor Constantine of Byzantium. who had been present at the consecration of Zvartnots when it was nearing completion in 652, to build a similar structure in his own capital. This intention failed to materialize due to the architect’s death on his way to Constantinople.
Zvartnots is a monument which embodies the centuries old traditions of Armenian architects. In its artistic image and daring spatial arrangement, formed by an intricate combination of arches and buttresses, Zvartnots is an outstanding monument of world architecture, an evidence of the high level of the development of the artistic and engineering thought in the 7th-century Armenia. Its architectural idea later became widely spread and developed in new shapes and new artistic compositions.
To the south-west of the temple there was the Katholikos’ palace which has also come down to us in ruins. It was a complex of capitally-built and regularly laid-out presence-chambers, dwelling, auxiliary and service premises. The scale, as well as the architectural and artistic features of the palace were coordinated with those of the temple.
The palace building consisted of two parts arranged at all angle to each other and divided by a corridor. The western part comprised small premises and two halls. The big summer hall, where reception ceremonies and conferences were held, was divided by columns into three naves and communicated with the dividing corridor by an arcade. The second, slightly smaller hall, which served as a refectory and. possibly, as a throne-room, was of a more intimate character. The projections on its lateral walls reduced the span of the vaulted roofing reinforced by wall arches. The projections formed arched niches which landed artistic expressiveness to the interior.
The eastern part included dwelling and service premises, such as storerooms and a bathroom. The latter consisted of two sections, the bigger one intended for common, and the smaller one for privileged visitors. The bathroom was equipped similarly to that of Garni. Adjoining it on the southern side was a small hall-type church of the 5th—6th centuries, south of which there was a large wine-press.
The plan of the palace is almost a square. The small size and skylight of most of the rooms show that they had wooden roofings of the kind used in Armenian peasant homes. The open gallery with an arcade on the northern side of the eastern part and flat roofs gave this structure of a severe composition the appearance of a southern-type building. The massive arches of the arcade resting on buttresses, cross-shaped in the plan, concealed the divisions between the premises behind it. It did not only decorate the square In front of the palace, but connected its architecture with that of the temple. The palace of Nerses III was the biggest of all the known civil structures of the 7th-century Armenia.

Geghard

The Gegard Monastery, located 35km (22 miles) east of Yerevan in a steep, rocky valley, is one of Armenia's most dramatic sights and is a magnificent monument of medieval Armenian architecture-Geghard monastery Geghardavank “Monastery of the Spear,” otherwise known as Ayrivank. A spearhead-shaped metal object, now in the Echmiadzin treasury, but once housed at Geghard, gave the monastery its name, as the lance with which Christ was wounded in the side. Nestled at the end of a rugged gorge, Geghard was clearly a sacred spot even in antiquity, with a seep of water coming out of the rock. A monastery has occupied this site since the 4th century AD. Though there are inscriptions dating to the 1160s, the main church was built in 1215 under the auspices of the brothers Zakare and Ivane, the generals of Queen Tamar of Georgia, who took back most of Armenia from the Turks. The gavit, partly free-standing, partly carved in the cliff, dates to before 1225, and a series of chapels hewn into the rock dates from the mid 13th century following the purchase of the monastery by Prince Prosh Khaghbakian, vassal of the Zakarians and founder of the Proshian principality. The chamber reached from the NE of the gavit became his tomb in 1283. The adjacent chamber has carved in the rock the arms of the Proshian family, including an eagle with a lamb in its claws. A stairway W of the gavit leads up to a funerary chamber carved out in 1288 for Papak Proshian and his wife Ruzukan. All around the monastery are caves and khachkars (stone crosses). The monastery was defunct, the main church used to shelter the flocks of the Karapapakh nomads in winter, until resettled by a few monks from Echmiadzin after the Russian conquest. Restored for tourist purposes but now with a small ecclesiastical presence, the site is still a major place of pilgrimage. Outside the far door is a table for ritual animal offerings (“matagh”), and a bridge over the stream. The monks, who still inhabit the monastery, occasionally sacrifice sheep on an open-air stone altar. 'Wishing trees' by the road approaching the site are decorated with colored scraps of cloth, tied on by pilgrims and travellers hoping their prayers will be answered.

Garni
From the 3 millienum BC. the fortress of Garni was the residence of Armenian kings. The fortress was ruined but these ruins show us the beauty of complex. The bath with mosaic is found near the King's Palace. It includes several rooms and reservoirs.
Garni temple to god of sun Mithras (possibly) is dated to 1st centure AD. when Nero sent money and slaves to build the temple, as a tribute to the Armenian King Tiridates for his support in fighting off the Parthians. During the centuries following the conversion of the kings of Armenia to Christianity, the temple served as a royal summer palace. Repeated earthquakes have destroyed most of the original structure, but the temple's vertiginous position dominating the valley from a plateau 300m (984ft) above the Azat River is breathtakingly beautiful.

Khor Virap Monastery

The monastery, legendary site of the captivity of Gregory the Illuminator, which sits among the ruins of Ancient Artashat. Khor Virap is one of the most popular destinations in Armenia for a number of reasons, primarily because it is where Grigor Luisavorich (St. Gregory the Illuminator) was imprisoned for 13 years before curing King Trdat III of a disease. This caused the conversion of the king and Armenia into the first officially Christian nation in the world in the year 301. To this day you can visit the underground chamber he was imprisoned, located in the nondescript St. Gevorg Chapel apart from the main church. Be careful in this building, there are two holes which can be climbed down but are unmarked. There is one smaller chamber by the door which has some stairs and then a twist and a ladder leading to the small room. There is another hole in the main room, to the right of the altar, with a long ladder leading down into the larger cistern where Grigor Luisavorich was imprisoned. It is actually impressive in size for an underground prison cell, and due to candles and a lack of air circulation was very stuffy, much like the other smaller chamber. Even with the candles it is rather useful to have a flashlight. This monastery rests atop a little hill in an otherwise very flat Ararat Valley. When you arrive you will be as close to Mt. Ararat as you can probably get in Armenia. It is huge and towers over Khor Virap on even hazy days. You can actually see the green belt along the Arax River which denotes the boundary with Turkey from the monastery and there are some military lookout posts around this area. At night there are lights visible on Mt. Ararat, these are American listening posts and Turkish bases.
The large St. Astvatsatsin church at Khor Virap was built in the 17th century and is typical in design, but with a lack of virtually any decorative carving, or elements. It is located in a fort like complex with a nice courtyard. For most Armenians this is a very important site, and is easily accessible from Yerevan. On weekends you will often see weddings, performances, snack stands, and doves being sold for release. In the summer it can be very hot here, so morning might be the best time to come. The gates are locked at night time as early as 5:30pm.
The hill of Khor Virap and those adjoining were the site of the important early Armenian capital of ancient Artashat or Artaxiasata, built by King Artashes I, founder of the Artashesid dynasty, around 180 BC. According to legend, the Carthaginian general Hannibal, who spent his twilight years in flight from a vengeful Rome, inspired the founding of the city. There are extensive excavations of residential and other structures. Well-preserved mud-brick fortifications line the N slope of the third hill from the NE. Ancient coins and potsherds can still be found. The site was destroyed by the Persian King of Kings Shapur II, and the capital was moved to Dvin by King Khosrov III (330-338). The course of the rivers has evidently changed, since ancient authors said that this spacious and well-laid-out city was located at the confluence of the Araxes and Metsamor rivers.

Lake Sevan and Sevanavank monastery

Situated 70km (43 miles) east of Yerevan, Lake Sevan is the largest lake in the Caucasus, and much vaunted for its pure waters, stunning setting and delicious salmon trout. As Lake Sevan comes into view at 1890 m, it is important to remember that since the mid-1930s the water level has dropped for more than 30 m, turning Sevan Island into a peninsula and creating a series of flat shelves and gravelly beaches around the lake. Under Stalin, Soviet engineers had concluded that Sevan's large surface area meant wasteful evaporation. They decided to reduce the surface area of the lake to one-sixth is original size, farming the new land at the S end and using the excess water for hydropower and irrigation. Public outcry and the realization that completing the plan would turn the Sevan basin into a desert killed the plan, but Armenia's engineers have continued to believe in massive intervention, digging huge tunnels to bring water from rivers.
Here on the then island, Princess Mariam Bagratuni sponsored construction of a monastery, first post-Arab example of an important religious/architectural regional school, under the spiritual guidance of the future katholikos Mashtots. As the 13th c. Bishop/historian Stepanos Orbelian describes it, "In that time, the venerable Mashtots shone for his amazing virtue on the island of Sevan. ... He received the order in a vision to build a church in the name of the twelve apostles and to set up a religious community there. In his trance, he saw 12 figures walking toward him on the sea, who showed him the place for the church. After this vision and a warning from on high, the great queen Mariam, wife of Vasak of Syunik, came to St. Mashtots and, having persuaded him, built a richly ornamented church called the Twelve Apostles, next a second called the Mother of God. She furnished them abundantly, and made them the house of God and the refuge of pious men, in the year 323/AD 874.
Sevanavank consists of two remaining rough-hewn churches built on the peninsula, which used to be and island. The courtyard has some interesting green khachkars (cross in stone). They were carved from a plentiful local green stone and stood out from the others across Armenia which are all made of tuff. The altar is one of the nicest in Armenia, and this is one of the few active monasteries in Armenia.
The monastery fell on harder times, and there is a terrible tale that, in the mid-18th century, the monks were ashamed lest the visiting katholikos see their collection of ragged and water-damaged manuscripts, and so secretly dumped them in the lake. The Russians' tame French Caucasus expert Jean-Marie Chopin (Ivan Shopen) noted that the monastic regime on the island was exceptionally strict, that meat and wine were banned, as well as women and youths. The monastery therefore served as reformatory for monks Echmiadzin had banished for their transgressions. Chopin listed the monastery's property: five villages, four mills, a ruined dairy, 46 farm animals, and gardens and fields. Eli Smith reported in 1830 that one of the monks was a serious teacher, and manuscripts were still copied there by hand as late at 1850.
Passing on the steps a monument to a 20th c. navy captain, lonely commander of the Sevan fleet, one reaches first the Arakelots (Apostles) church and then Astvatsatsin (Mother of God), the latter with various khachkars (stone crosse) fragments in the courtyard. These churches were restored in the 17-18th c, and extensively rebuilt recently. The other monastery buildings have mostly disappeared, though there are foundations of a third church, S. Harutyun, above. Nothing is visible of two smaller ruined shrines ruined by earthquakes, including one to S. Karapet. Ruins of the medieval Sevan fortress have also entirely vanished.
Sevan National Park

Zorats Karer (Karahunj)

Widely believed to be the world first astrological observatory dating 7 500 BC (Heruni, P. 1998), archeological excavations of burial chambers found in the complex qualify the existence of the stones since then. As with other locations of historical interest found throughout Siunik and along with similar sites such as Stonehenge in England, Kaunak in France, Kalenish in Scotland, and the Irish New Greg, Zorats Karer has many legends associated with it. One tale in particular, says that during a wedding, enemies approached with the intention of kidnapping the bride. After prayers to the Gods, the approaching hordes were turned to stone. Artak Sargsyan, a PhD candidate at the Institute of Eastern Sciences of the Academy of Sciences has been researching the stones for over two years, and believes that Zorats Karer is relevant in any study of Armenia. Even if the first academic reference to the stones appeared in scientific journals in the late nineteenth century, it was not until the 1970's that academics suggested that Zorats Karer might represent more than just a simple burial ground. "It was certainly a place of worship," Sargsyan continues, "and while it is very difficult to say exactly, it is very likely that the stones had some from of astrological significance." Many of the stones have holes bored into them for what might be observation of the heavens, although some suggest that they might simply have served the purpose of tethering animals. However, Sargsyan says that his own research supports the generally accepted theory that the stones were used for astrological observation. Petroglyphs found nearby indicate that early inhabitants of the region had an awareness of the night sky long before the II millennium BC, and astrophysical research suggests that the stones might actually date to the IV millennium BC. However, even if no significant academic research has examined this idea extensively, Sargsyan says that new discoveries and findings from his research will be available in the near future. An ancient burial ground or an astrological observatory, Zorats Karer is a significant site of historical interest.

Sahmosavank monastery

Sahmosavank monastery which stands on the edge of canyon is dated to 1215 when by order of Prince Vache Vachutyan the Surb Sion church was built here. The Monastery from west and south sides was surrounded by huge vestibule and liburary, the composition of which is one of the most rare and non ordinarry in Armenia. (V. Beliy, I. Belaya-Barseghyan) Lots of thombs and khachkars are seen on the teritorry of the monastery. The wall near to church is dated to 1st millenium B.C.

Noravank monastery

Noravank monastery was built on the base of ancient cloister. Later its territory enhanced and in 13-14 AD. Noravank was housing the chair of Syunik province's bishops. The oldest monument of Noravank is the ruined church of Surb Karapet dated to 9-11 AD. The two constructions of Noravank were build by talented sculpture Momik. The legend tells us a dramatic story of love. Momik and a princess of Syunik were in love with each other and this love worried her father Prince. The prince promised Momik to marry them if only he can build the most beautiful church in 3 years. So Momik almost did. But as Prince realized it he sent a murderer who pushed Momik to the canyon. And the last stone for church polished by Momik became a thumb of him.

Goshavank (Nor Getik complex)

Nor Getik complex was built (12-13 AD) on the base of ancient monastery Getik ruined by earthquake in 1188. Mkhitar Gosh, a scientist and writer, author of first book of Laws played an active role in its reconstruction therefore this complex is more known as Goshavank. The famous school with a huge libruary was founded here by Gosh. One of its student was Kirakos Gandzaketsi the author of famous "History of Armenia". The khachkar (stone-cross) of Goshavank is believed the most beautiful in Aremenia!

Dilijan
North of Sevan, further into the mountains, is Dilizhan, a resort much favored during the Soviet period for the medicinal powers attributed to its mineral water. The authorities aspire in the long term to develop ski and spa resorts in this region, but at present, tourist infrastructure remains at a primitive level. A few kilometers east of Dilizhan, in a wooded gorge, is the Agartsin Monastery, believed to have been the major cultural centre in medieval Armenia, and one of the very few perfectly preserved examples of the architecture of its period (10th-13th centuries). The refectory building is particularly prized. 25km (16 miles) from Dilizhan, the 12th-century Goshavank Monastery features some of the finest examples of the delicate, lacey style of stone carving developed by medieval craftsmen in the region.
Dilijan Reserve

Jermuk is famous for its medicinal mineral springs and waterfalls. The temperature of some spring reaches +62 C.