Lakes and monasteries the easy way

With limited time in Armenia, I chose to do a tour with the hostel which covered several sights. It’s the easy way; it would take me at least two days to cover the main attractions included here if I had taken public transport, and their deal includes some lesser sights too (and lunch and entrances).  I don’t regret the decision as the guide was very informative about the history and Armenian life in general.

Once we left the city limits there was a sprouting of mini-casinos. This can be seen in all directions leaving the city; not just on this road. Local laws prevent the establishment of casinos within Yerevan itself, presumably to make gambling less accessible.

Our first stop was the freshwater Lake Sevan at an elevation of 1900m. On a little peninsular (formerly an island when the water was higher), sits the monastery of Sevanavank. The monastery consists of the Apostles Church and the Holy Mother of God Church plus some ruins. These date from around 800AD.

We learnt a little about the Armenian Apostolic church:

• It is separate from the Orthodox and the Catholic churches and headed by the Catholicos.
• The liturgy is about 2 hours and held in old Armenian meaning that many people don’t understand it.
• It is standing room only and people wander in and out to stretch their legs.
• Consecration of the bread and wine is done behind curtains; an active church always has curtains available in front of the altar.
• Monks do not have sleeping quarters. They pray and copy manuscripts until they fall asleep; they sleep wherever they fall asleep.
• When leaving a church, one walks in reverse so has not to turn one’s back to God.
• Just outside the entrance of the church is a slightly lower and enclosed area for unbaptised people during mass; they can’t enter the church.  This is called the gavit.
• It’s not taboo to walk on people’s graves (which are common in the gavit); it helps clears the sins of the dead!

Next we visited the Hayravank monastery nearby, built in the 9th Century. Like the Sevanavank churches, the architecture comprises of a cross-shape and conical roof. Inside, the baptismal font is always on the left.

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Moving away from churches and monasteries, we next visited the cemetery at Noratus. The cemetery is famous for large cross-stones (gravestones with intricate crosses which may appear similar to Celtic patterns) dating back from the 10th Century, even though many are from the 16-17th Century. Apart from crosses on them, the act as a storyboard for the life of the deceased (eg. their occupation or how they died).

During a war, they locals dressed up these cross-stones and from afar the enemies mistook them as soldiers and ran off.

An elaborate lunch was served in a local farmhouse. They brought out their best heavily-gilded china for us. Being a crockery-snob, I turned the cup over to see that it was Czech. The guide explained that Czech crockery is kinda seen as the best available in Armenia.

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It was a 2 hour drive to get to our next stop, the Geghard (spearhead) monastery. This used to hold the spear which was poked into Jesus while on the crucifix until it was moved into the local equivalent of the Vatican.

Most of what we see at Geghard dates back to the 7th Century. There are several churches within the complex, some of which are set in a cave rather than the external man-made building.

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Last on the list was a pagan temple at Garni, dedicated to the sun god, Mitra. It was commissioned by the local 1st Century king drawing on Greco-Roman architecture.

One thing that stood out during the day is that Armenians are proud of their history and the fact that Armenia was bigger than what it is today.  They refer to Eastern Turkey as Western Armenia. Then there’s also the part that’s disputed with Azerbaijan too.

Pagan temple at Garni.