Armenia in 19 hours – Not enough time!

Khor Virap Monastery

The story of how St. Gregory survived 13 years in a bug infested pit beneath the church. part 1

The Story of St Gregory part 2

How St. Gregory was released after 13 years in the pit beneath the church

Monastery Walls

Clousd obscuring Mt Ararat

Church in Khor Virap Monastery

Church under which St. Gregory was imprisoned in a small pit for 13 years

Killing time waiting for the clouds to clear and reveal Mt Ararat

Cloud obscured Mt Ararat

Mt Ararat peaking thru the clouds

Mt Ararat peaking thru the clouds

Mt Ararat

Sculpture in front of the Archeological museum and dig

Carved wooden doors to the museum

Mt Ararat Clearing

Stone water pipes with flanges for transporting water in ancient times

Fortress Ruins

My visit to Armenia was way too brief.  I only scheduled one day and night in Armenia because it didn’t look that interesting based on the guide books and I was eager to get to the Black Sea beaches of Romania.  After my brief visit I’ve concluded I made a mistake.  I arrived in Yerevan Airport before 8am and was lucky enough to stumble across an eager taxi driver willing to drive me all day anywhere I wanted to go for peanuts.  So I hopped in and off we went.  Since no cafes were open and I was hungry the first stop was a supermarket for sliced meat, cheese, rolls, Coke Zero and water for the day.  Though the driver didn’t speak much English and I spoke no Armenian we made do with pantomime and a few words.

I have no idea of my driver’s name so I will just call him Yaz.  Anyway Yaz suggested we start with a visit to a famous fortress and monastery in the south on the Turkish border.  The added bonus was. that the monastery complex was just across the border from Mt Ararat, the Biblical landing place of Noah’s Arc.

Unfortunately mountains create their own weather so Mt Ararat was obstructed by clouds much of the morning.  Ive included a series of photos to show how hard it was to get even a partial reveal of the mountain.  Even a partial view brought back the old urges to climb again.  As awesome as the mountain was it was not the highlight of the visit.  The fortress and its two churches were worth the long drive.  And the incredible backstory is one for the book.

It seems a pagean king banished St. Gregory to a pit under the church for preaching Christianity.  The story is incredible and I took photos of the description so rather than leave anything out I will post all the photos of the story for you to read.  Sometimes fact is much more incredible and interesting than fiction.

Next we traveled to the Erebuni Historical Museum and Reserve.  This archeological site which dates back to the 7th century BC – even before Rome was established.  On the hill above the museum is the ruins of the palace of King Argisshti I.  From his palace and fortress the king’s guards had a commanding view in every direction for as far as the eye could see.  No one was going to sneak up on this sly old fox.

The excavated complex contains huge areas for storing grains, workshops for making tools and weapons, a place for animal sacrifices, oven pits, huge wine and oil jars and of course the fortress walls.  The museum contains many of the artifacts dug up at this site since the 1950s when a farmer plowing his field found the first item.  Photos attached.

Our final stop was a huge Monastery and Church complex on the outskirts of Yerevan that I never could identify.  It looks like it might also have been a bible college if the Armenian Orthodox Church has such a thing.  Lots of young monks in training running around in robes.  I’ve included photos of course.

My taxi driver, I think,  kept insisting I go home with him for lunch and to meet his wife.  Either that or he was suggesting we both go to a whore house – I’ll never be sure.  But I declined the invitation regardless.  Even though the invitation was thoughtful the thought of sitting with two strange people unable to communicate, in god knows where, eating god knows what just didn’t seem like a good time to me.  Pantomime can only get you so far.  Yaz really enjoyed my visual explanation of needing a bathroom.  Use your imagination for that one.

The final and most unexpected treat was heard from my hotel suite on the 5th floor of the Marriott on Freedom Square.  I had to be up by 2:30am to catch an early morning flight to Istanbul so I ate an early dinner and turned in early.  Around 9pm I was startled to hear the theme song from the movie Star Wars played by a full orchestra from out on Freedom Square.  I opened my curtains to see what was going on and received quite a shock.

Set up on the square was the entire Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra plus a second stage for singers.  Turns out I had balcony seating to an evening concert with a full light show and dancing fountains.  The show was quite impressive if not a little strange.  The music would transition from classical to modern and back.  From Moonlight Sonata to the theme song from Mission Impossible to Bolera to Pink Panther with out any rhyme or reason.

Regardless I enjoyed the free concert and woke bleary eyed at 2:30 to make my way to the airport for my flights to Istanbul then on to Bucharest and the Black Sea coast.  In retrospect I wish I had