Khor Virap, Echmiadzin And Zvartnots

Wednesday was the first day of our three guided tours, with us focusing this time on the monasteries of Khor Virap, Echmiadzin and Zvartnots. All three were unique and offered a fascinating insight into the religious tapestry of the first country to officially adopt Christianity in 301 AD, a fact that was mentioned only second to the Armenian Genocide of 1915-22.

It was a 9am start but we did not have too far to travel, with Khor Virap being our first port of call, some forty minutes from the centre of Yerevan. On our way, the prosperous suburbs of Yerevan gave way to more rundown towns and villages, with the tufa blocks of the Soviet blocks of flats looking particulary shabby. We were driving along the Ararat Plain, the area responsible for the vast majority of Armenian farming, with mountain ranges flanking either side of a rather wide valley. The ground was quite parched and as we proceeded, our guide for the day told us a fair amount of interesting information which gave strong context for the sights we were about to see.

Khor Virap sits right on the closed border with Turkey, and you can see a black fence and some military watchtowers guarding this area from the complex just a matter of metres away from its western edge. It was actually quite eerie seeing the fence, the banks of the River Arax and then Turkey beyond knowing a little about the complex history of the region. Beyond this is the imposing sight of Mount Ararat, which was dashed with cloud on this November morning, making it appear somewhat romantic and whimsical. The mountain holds strong feelings for the Armenians and indeed even features on their coins. It was once in Armenia until it became part of the Ottoman Empire, then latterly Turkey. The Turks often object to the Armenians' obsession with Ararat, questioning why it's on their currency when the mountain itself is not in their country, to which the Armenians reply 'why is the moon on your flag when THAT is not in your country?'.

Khor Virap is a place of pilgrimage for Armenians, largely because it's integral to how Armenia became Christian. Here Pagan King Trdat III imprisoned Gregory the Illuminator for preaching Christianity before descending into madness, believed to be as a result of what he had done. Knowing that only Gregory could cure him, he was released from the well in which he had been incarcarated after 12 years and after 65 days miraculously cured the King. On the 66th day, he converted to Christianity and while historians now believe that this may have been more to do with prudence based on trying to tap into Armenia's growing Christian community in the face of Roman aggression, the upshot is that this miraculous instant features prominently on paintings in a vast majority of the churches in the reason. One of the key reasons for this was that this was the start of the Armenian Apostolic Church, as churches were built on top of pagan temples. At Khor Virap you can see - and even climb into through the aid of a sturdy metal ladder - the well in which Gregory was imprisoned, with legend saying that he was given bread every day and survived only on that and the strength of prayer. While there has been religious buildings on this site since the sixth century, most of the ones standing today actually date from the seventeenth, with a small domed church sitting in the middle of a modest courtyard which contains the living quarters for the monks. It was a charming little complex and it was great to see, but I must admit it was the evocative view of Mount Ararat that swung it for me.

Outside the entrance to Khor Virap, situated on the road leading up the hill towards it, we had our first encounter with khachkars or Armenian cross-stones. These are quite unique and exquisite carvings, usually featuring an ornate cross of some kind. They developed in style from the ninth to the sixteenth centuries, with the early ones being far more simplistic. As the centuries moved on, they became more sophisticated, with each end of the cross becoming more rounded, before developing one, two and then three leaves. This 'Tree of Life' shape is the predominant one today and of course has significant Biblical symbolism. No khachkar is the same and they largely contain intracately carved patterns around the edges, with three internal layers dominating the masonary. The crosses are usually the biggest and fit in the middle, with the Earth represented underneath and Heaven above, accentuating the Tree of Life philosophy. The patterns around the edge are largely geometric and often contain pomegranates or grapes, two of the three national fruits of Armenia, which again depict life. We saw a number of khachkars during our time in Armenia - some of them original, some of them modern and a large number replicas of ones destroyed during the Armenian Geoncide by the Turks. There was so much going on with them that it spent quite a while just to take everything in, and I did enjoy the differing narratives that each of them brought.

Our second stop on the tour was the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin, which is basically the Vatican of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is the place where Gregory the Illuminator saw a beam of light fall, guiding him on where to build the first Mother Church of Armenia. This did function as the country's capital until 340 AD but then the Catholicos wandered across western Armenia before setting back here again in 1441. Consequently, most of the buildings are from the fifteenth century, with the main church, Mayr Tachar, situated in a beautiful lawned area surrounded by nineteenth century constructions. For a main cathedral, it was rather plain, particularly on the inside as Armenian churches tend to focus on few ornaments and little colour, instead preferring plain masonary which does not distract from prayer and contemplation. Alas, as we set foot inside, we entered a building site as they were doing renovation work, with the main central alter (one of four no less) being covered in clear plastic sheeting to protect it from the dust. Things didn't improve much when we went into the modest museum, which usually contains two relics of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified as well as a relic from ths spear with which a Roman soldier stabbed Jesus while on the cross. Alas, one of the cross relics along with the spear were currently in New York for an exhibition on Armenia, meaning we had to make do with photographs. There were a number of other interesting things such as vestments, crowns and illuminated manuscripts in this small museum though and the guided tour was exceptionally good, perfunctory and focusing on the core aspects of the collection.

As Echmiadzin is the seat of the Catholicos, it's obviously quite a large place so there were a number of other things to see. It is a seminary for teaching, so there are dormatories for trainee monks as well as another church in which they can practice. There is also a huge hotel for devoted pilgrims at one edge of the main complex and this overlooks a huge square upon which huge open air masses are often held. There is a special alter carved out of stone for this very purpose, with its main function every seven years when a new batch of holy oil needs to be blessed after it has been concocted. We saw the huge vessel in which this oil is stored in the museum and I found the whole process rather fascinating.

Indeed, before reaching the main complex, we had stopped off at two other significant churches in the town - that of St Hripsime and that of St Kayane. The former was just off the road entering the city, with our driver seemingly parking in the left-hand turn lane at some traffic lights, which seemingly it was legal to do. Erected by the Catholicos Komitas in 618 AD - one of many he built in this region - it is perched on a small hill and is a hexagonal collection of buildings with a standalone belfry at one side. Like with most Armenian churches, it has a rather heavy intricately carved wooden door and a number of gravestones which are laid flat on the ground. The interior, again typically, was rather plain with a few paintings of Jesus and Mary hanging here and there. The atmosphere in here was rather peaceful and tucked around the back was the crypt where the remains of St Hripsime are laid. Upon the top of this there is a tablet with her likeness carved upon it, based on contemporary historical descriptions. There were also some stones believed to be those used to stone her to death in a glass compartment to one side.

The seventh century basilica-style church of St Kayane is smaller and of red appearance, set in some parkland opposite a disused sports complex. You could still see the concrete remains of an old diving board. The church itself is built on the site where the saint was martyred, with an older church having been built here in the fourth century. Outside the church there were a row of graves and a small table upon which salt is blessed. This is subsequently used in ritual sacrifices of animals which still happens in Armenia, the process believed to inspire or be thankful for luck in someone's life. This church had a similar austere interior, although its atmosphere was heavier and more tranquil than that of St Hripsime. The curtain upon the alter was a sign that the church was still active while again tucked around the back was the crypt where the saint lies, this time built next to a wall rather than in the centre of the room. On the walls there were murals depicting aspects of the saint's life.

Leaving the rather scruffy town of Echmiadzin behind, we headed to the final site of the tour - Zvartnots Cathedral. This was just outside Echmiadzin and was built in the seventh century by Catholicos Nerses II, who was known as 'The Builder'. It was destroyed in the tenth century, either through invasion or by earthquake, and was entered in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000. It used to house some relics from Gregory the Illuminator but its unique design was not particularly stable, hence its destruction. There is a small museum on site where models of what it looked like are displayed, along with the historical research that went into how this was determined. This influenced the modest reconstruction when this site was rediscovered in the early twnetieth century. Its circular shape, as opposed to the cross shape of most churches in Armenia, was quite unique as was the central alter which is still standing. Around the cathedral there lies the ruins of the wine press and palace in which the Catholicos lived when this was their seat of power. There were a number of houses buttressing right against the site, a testament to how little the Soviets cared about planning rules, and the view out over the plain was quite breathtaking as we surveyed our surroundings, making it a true priviledge to be here. It was a nice way to end our first tour, I thought, as we made the half hour journey back to the capital.

We hadn’t had any lunch on the tour and although it finished in five hours rather than the scheduled six - largely because we don’t piss about taking selfies - we still needed food. The guide recommended a number of places to us, including Taverna Yerevan, which was just down the road pretty close to the Marriott. So after dropping us off at the hotel, and sorting out payment of course, we strolled over there and were seated pretty quickly. Wanting a larger meal in the evening, we decided to go for something modest here, ordering the local dish of Dolma (or Tolma) which is essentially leaves stuffed surf rice and meet, in this case beef. We got two different types - one with grape leaves and the other not - and also got some Armenian table wine, with the quality of their wines improving significantly in recent years. We ordered a red from a winery recommended by the guidebook and it turned out to be very well-balanced with cherry notes and very drinkable. The Dolma were exquisite too, with everything so succulent, and the sour cream to accompanying it worked so well cutting the richness with a little sharpness.

After our Dolma, we decided to walk around the city some more, focusing on finding a number of the geocaches littered around the city. One of them was very near the hotel and took us into a quaint nineteenth century courtyard with an exterior and authentic wooden staircase. It was a place we would never have discovered had we not been guided there but the cache itself proved tricky to find. I was also acutely aware of the security camera outside of the small library that was tucked away here but fortunately we did not have to look too long as one of the locals appeared on the stairs and asked if we needed any help. Upon saying we were looking for something, he sighed and said “oh you’re playing that game” and he showed us to the cache just behind a drainpipe. Sadly he disappeared after this and we didn’t get chance to thank him or speak to him, but it was a real privilege to be here, particularly as it was one of the few historical parts of the city that is still preserved what with the rate of development taking place in Yerevan right now.

After our cache experience, we decided to head towards the Cascade at the northern edge of the ring road which surrounds the city centre. However, as we were heading up there, we were distracted by the khachkars in the strip of pedestrianised land near Hanrapetutyan hraparak station, taking a detour to look at them. Further down this street there was the main market in the city, selling an array of largely overpriced tat for tourists. The main market here is on a weekend so it was a little subdued on a Wednesday evening, but we had a pleasant stroll nonetheless from one end of it to another. It was here that we intersected the ring road, so we decided to circumnavigate our way around it, with the hope of getting to the Cascade eventually. However, what we didn't realise was just how big this road was, meaning it took us far longer than we expected to reach our destination. Still, we got a couple more geocaches logged and we got to see an abandoned funfair with discarded rusted spiral staircases just lying about, so it wasn't all bad. We even got to see a Debenhams near Yeritasardakan Metro Station, with the entrance to the metro characterised by a brutalist tube of concrete sticking out of the roof. Still, it was an interesting design if nothing else. On our way we also saw a number of statues including those of seventh century scientist Anania Shirakatsi and historiographer Movses Khorenatsi.

We eventually reached the Cascade just before nightfall, noting the range of modern art sculptures on the road leading up to its base. Sadly, as it was nearly dark, we didn't get much chance to observe these. We contemplated whether it was worth walking up or not. In the end, we made the decision to proceed, deciding the nighttime panorama of the city from the summit was most likely worth it. The Cascade is a vast flight of stone steps with five layers, each with intricately carved fountains, often with a sea-based theme. The steps are flanked on either side by topiary while there are a number of statues and khachkars dotted about in random places, including two random Buddahs which change colour stuck on plinths. Inside the staircase there is an escalator upon which you can travel up and down between the levels, with each level containing a different museum. On shelves next to the escalators there is a miscellany of odd objects which serve some artist purpose but I was not sure precisely what. These artowkrs are from Gerard Cafesjian's personal collection, Cafesijan being the man who funded the completion of the Cascade although I would argue whether it is completed at all. Once you get to the fifth level, the staircase just stops at a huge hole where there is clearly the foundation for something. The metal wire jutting out of neglected concrete pillars suggest that work hasn't taken place here for some time while directly above all this there is a concrete plinth jutting out towards you, with a huge statue with a golden leaf atop it. The Cascade and this plinth were clearly meant to be connected yet now you have to go across a wooden bridge and up a potholed street to get to the top. Anyway, this is what we did, which was rather surreal as it had something of a back entrance feel to it. Still, the trip was worth it as the view over the twinkling lights of Yerevan was breathtaking and seeing the monument up close was also a pleasure. Oddly though, just across the square on which it was situated, there was a collection of other statues which somewhat trivialised it - a table with a huge boat on it, a stalking wolf, a crocodile, some metal owls and a giant fuck off spider.

Feeling hungry, after our trip down the Cascades we thought we would try the ubiquitous Tashir Pizza, one of whose outlets we had seen while walking along the ring road. Getting seated was swift, and we ordered two bottles of local fizzy beer, which turned out to be quite refreshing after a long day. We then tried to decipher the menu, which was in English but wasn’t particularly clear. Each pizza had a description which was easy enough to follow but there was a slice icon denoting Neapolitan style and one denoting American style. There was then a full pizza icon denoting something called ‘pizzetta’ which we thought meant a whole pizza, so this is what we ordered. The price was double that of the slices which made sense but the -etta should have perhaps given us a clue as when they came, they were the size of a paracetamol. Wolfie and I shared the two we got but we were very close to ordering a third once we had finished due to their paltry size. However, it took long enough for them to clear our plates after eating that we decided to just get the bill and have something else elsewhere. This was a shame as the pizza was exceptionally tasty, and quite different as they used a white cheese base as a sauce rather than a tomato one (they did give you ketchup though if you wanted the tomato flavour - it actually worked quite well).

Anyway, we were slated to go to Dargetts, having arranged with Tony to meet there as it’s very close to his flat in the city. I had dropped him an email earlier that day saying we would be there from around 9pm bother on the Wednesday and the Thursday, and we were true to our word, rocking up at around this time having made the ten minute walk to Aram Street, where it’s situated. This is quite a spacious boulevard, with a pavement area in the middle, flanked by roads on either side. In this paved area there were a number of statues made out of artificial turf including some bears, a grand piano and a horse drawn cart with two horses. You couldn’t see their features overly well during nighttime but when we came back here on Saturday morning to meet with Tony again, their full splendor could be seen. Back to Wednesday and we found the bar very easily, and found a seat, with Tony arriving about fifteen minutes later. We had already ordered one of the three sharing trays of five 0.1l measures by this point, trays which showcase the full range of what they do. I couldn’t find any rhyme or reason why the beers on each tasting tray were grouped as they were beyond it gave one a chance to sample as broad a range as possible but lumping ciders with stouts and weizens was a little odd. It didn’t matter to us though as our aim was to try everything on their menu, which totalled 20 beers and a cheeky 21st raspberry ale which wasn’t advertised on the menu boards but was obviously there when you counted the number of operational taps - I spotted this on Friday. Anyway, once Tony had arrived, we moved to a bigger table in one corner of the huge bar, and spent an enjoyable evening chatting with someone who had first visited Yerevan in 1988 and had seen how the city had changed since. He gave us loads of useful background information about the city and suggested places to visit, many of which formed the basis of our extensive Sunday tour to the north of the country. As we were eating, we snacked on poutine, which we had ordered before Tony had come. This was quite pleasant but the cheese was a little too strong for poutine and the chips were slightly underdone. However it did provide useful filler after our tiny pizzas which was just as well as we spent a good three hours here, two and a quarter of them with our new friend, a friend who we fortuitously met due to the delayed flight out of Gatwick. By the time we had left, we had had two of the three tasting trays and felt it a shame not to sample the final one, perhaps a mistake based on how I woke up on Thursday morning. However the beer was exceptionally good, with no style being particularly weak and a number being on par with British equivalents so it was a pleasure trying all of them. The bar had a really nice vibe too, with brewing tanks on the lower ground level and knowledgeable staff too. The main brewery is on the Yerevan to Sevan main road, about twenty miles out of the capital. It’s a building we saw a number of times as we drove to and from the famous lake there. Anyway, we didn’t leave until closing, being turfed out at midnight. We weren’t drunk by any stretch but we did feel a little tipsy, so fortunately it was only a straightforward ten minute walk back to the hotel, where we flopped pretty much as soon as we had returned.