We’ve been using the capital of Yerevan as our base and running trips out to the regions (which has allowed me to get my washing done and dried before we move on next!).
Many churches have been built on the sites of Pagan Temples across Armenia, as it was a method of bringing the local population into the fold of Christianity. Armenia as a nation converted to Christianity in 301AD and was the First Nation to do so. I still stand by the statement that Pagans had the best holidays (Christmas and Easter are also traditional pagan holidays. Ever wondered why Easter’s date was fixed by the moon cycle?!).
The cats of the temple were quite vocal and it made me feel bad that I didn’t have anything to feed them with.
Whilst we were in the Garni valley we went to see their basalt columns. 127000 years ago there was a powerful volcanic eruption in the Geghama Mountains and lava flowed to this area. Due to slow cooling, the lower parts of the lava flows took the form of pentahedral and hexagonal columns. Many of the columns are used as paving around the pagan temple.
It’s hard to believe that this areas annual rainfall is around 650mm and I guess that I need to remember that it is early autumn here, so everything has dried off. Every where we go there are prolific orchards, vegetables and everything seems to be growing with vigour.
Our next stop was the Geghard Monastery, again world heritage listed.
The monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley contains a number of churches and tombs, most of them cut into the living rock, which illustrate Armenian medieval architecture at its highest point. The complex of medieval buildings is set into a landscape of great natural beauty, at the entrance to the Azat Valley. High cliffs from the northern side surround the complex while the defensive wall encircles the rest.
The monuments included in the property are dated from the 4th to the 13th century.
There are monks living and working at the Geghard complex to this day, which still begs the question, where are all the nunneries?
