Armenia

Visited: June 2010

Duration of visit: 6 days

Capital city: Yerevan  

Population: 2.88 million (2010)

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

• The capital Yerevan is one of the world’s oldest inhabited cities, founded 29 years before Rome.
• 13^th century Norvank Monastery – the most beautiful monastery on a scenic location – Holy Mother of God.
• With practically zero non-meat options in restaurants, I was eating plain and tasteless food; tomato, cheese and pepper, combined with bread and canned sardines three times per day.
• We Are Our Mountains – a slogan of the Armenian heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh, a large monument north of Stepanakert.
• Armenia turned out to be one of the less interesting countries in the region. The highlight was Nagorno-Karabakh.

I visited Armenia in 2010 as a part of South Caucasus tour, which also included Azerbaijan and Georgia. If I had a fantastic time in Azerbaijan and especially Georgia, I was not feeling the same hospitality by Armenian people and I didn’t enjoy that much travelling and exploring its cuisine, culture or history. I felt men very reserved and more focused on women visitors, while communication to Armenian women was almost impossible. Maybe also because of language barrier.

The facts of Armenia are impressive:

• Armenia is the first country to officially adopt Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD. Some of the world’s oldest churches and monasteries can be found in extremely beautiful natural settings, high in the mountains. The first state church in the world was built in Armenia in early 4^th century: Holy Etchmiadzin.
• Armenia’s cognac Ararat is a well-known brandy all around the world. It gained popularity, when Joseph Stalin presented Winston Churchill some of the good stuff at the Yalta Conference.
• The population of Armenia is less than 3 million, but there are approximately 11 million Armenians (or of Armenian descent) living worldwide.
• Apricots originate from Armenia. Wines, cognacs, vodka flavored with apricots, are some of the products that honor this delicious fruit.
• Armenian language has no genetic connection with any other language and the alphabet is unique too, put together in the years 405 to 406. Specialists consider the Armenian alphabet of 36 letters to be among the top three most advanced in the world: along with Georgian and Korean.
• The main symbol of Armenia, Ararat mountain, is located outside of current Armenia.

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, with the population over 1 million people.

Cascade Complex was designed by the legendary Armenian architect Alexander Tamanyan, who was also the main architect of Yerevan city. An enormous staircase connects northern Yerevan to the center in a very unique way. Inside, encased within the stairs, there is a series of galleries that showcase different art and design exhibitions. Beautiful view over Yerevan and Ararat mountains in the background opens from the highest point at stair number 572. I walked all of them and I can confirm the general appreciation.

On the hillside behind the Casacade, I arrived to an imposing building, The Matenadaran – a museum officially called Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts. It is the world’s largest repository of Armenian manuscripts, established in 1959, holding an estimated 23,000 manuscripts and scrolls, plus another half-a-million archival documents. Part of the collection are the world’s biggest and the world’s smallest book.

The Opera House with its two halls, the theatre and the philharmonic society hall, is one of the most beautiful and remarkable building in Yerevan. Performance of over 200 operas and ballets by Armenian, Russian and Western composer have taken place since the official opening in 1933.

The Republic Square, in the heart of Yerevan, consists of two sections: an oval roundabout and a trapezoid-shaped section which contains a pool with musical fountains. The square is surrounded by five buildings: Government House, the History Museum and the National Gallery, Armenia Marriott Hotel and two buildings that formerly housed the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Transport and Communications. During the Soviet period it was called Lenin Square and a statue of Vladimir Lenin stood in the center. It used to be a marching ground for military parades; these days attracts locals of all generation for a walk, conversation, coffee or an ice cream on a hot summer day.

One of the most outstanding buildings, elevated on a small hill, is Yerevan Brandy Company, where famous Armenian brandy is produced.

Ordinary brandies are aged from 3 to 6 years, while aged brandies stay in deposit from 10 up to 30 years. According to the company story, the main components of the famous liquor are: locally grown grapes, spring water, Caucasian oak wood and talent of craftsmen preserved for generations.

First produced in 1887, cognacs are these days exported to over 50 countries. In many occasions Ararat cognac was given as a gift, also in some historical political encounters. The museum exhibition, production tour and tasting ceremony are a must for all liquor lovers.

The Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex is dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide, built in 1967 on the hill of Tsitsernakaberd. Every year on 24^th April, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, thousands of Armenians gather at the memorial to commemorate the victims of the genocide.

The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It unofficially began with the arrest of 250 Armenian intellectuals by Turkish officials on April 24^th in 1915.

Over the next several years a series of systematic deportations and mass executions along with intentional starvation would cause the deaths of more than one million Armenians.

It was implemented primarily through the mass murder during death marches to the Syrian Desert and the forced Islamization of Armenian women and children. This genocide put an end to more than two thousand years of Armenian civilization in this area.

Together with the mass murder and expulsion of Syriac and Greek Orthodox Christians, it enabled the creation of an ethnonationalist Turkish state. Armenians charge that the campaign was a deliberate attempt to destroy the Armenian people and, thus, an act of genocide.

The Turkish government has resisted calls to recognize it as such, contending that, although atrocities took place, there was no official policy of extermination implemented against the Armenian people as a group.

I travelled around Armenia by public transport and visiting the Amaghu valley was no exception. I took a bus from Yerevan with direction to Jermuk. After almost three hours of driving I was dropped off at the junction on the main road from where I started to hitchhike. It didn’t take long to catch a ride to the monastery. Being a weekend, the traffic was quite solid.

There are more than 4,000 churches and monasteries around Armenia dating back to 4^th century.

Noravank Monastery is not only the religious site and masterpiece of ancient architecture, but also renowned by one of the most beautiful and scenic location in Armenia.

It was founded in 1105 by Bishop Hovhannes and includes the church of S. Karapet, the S. Grigor Chapel, and the Church of S. Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God). The churches survived attacks from Mongols, Timurid dynasty, even an earthquake in 1340. Some of Armenia’s most important medieval artists worked here and were also buried on the sacred spot. The complex then fell into disrepair and was only restored to what you see today in 1998.

The most attractive church to visit is definitely The Holy Mother of God church (Astvatsatsin). This is the grandest of the structures with detailed carvings covering the front of the two-story building. A decorated staircase leads up to the second floor which offers the best photo opportunity. Even though there is not much to see inside, the position of the stairs vast area around and surrounding mountains made it the highlight of Norvank Monastery.

After I finished the visit of the churches, I was a little worried about the best way to get a lift back to the main road. I waited at the parking lot and asked around if anybody is willing to give me a ride. Easy and straightforward. A young family offered me a seat in its luxury SUV. We had a nice conversation and in a question of minutes we said goodbye to each other and went different ways.

Alaverdi is a town high above on the plateau at the top of the cliffs. Marked by a mine that used to wreak massive environmental damage, before it stopped operating for a while with the collapse of the USSR. The most dangerous, but also the most attractive option to reach Sarahart is the cable car, which usually takes the miners to and from work. Sarahart is adjacent to Sanahin Village, with the famous monastery complex.

I could appreciate Debed Canyon from a whole different angle while riding in an unstable, rundown cabin, before reaching another town perched at the edge of a grassy plateau, completely invisible from below.

The monastery complex is tucked into the forest, partly overgrown. St. Amenaprkich church is the main and largest building of the complex, dated back to the 10^th century. Raised during golden age of the country’s religious architecture, listed in UNESCO World Heritage. A mix of traditional Byzantine and vernacular Armenian elements are aligned with many other religious monuments around the country.

I found basic accommodation for a night, with a spectacular view over the canyon bellow. A host was already in good mood, drinking vodka and profoundly analyzing political situation in Armenia with his friend. He invited me to join, which I did without hesitation. Chatting with the youngsters turned out to be by far more profound experience than exploring the monastery complex. Especially after every glass of locally made spirit successfully reduced language barriers among us.

During my visit in 2010, Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but most of it is governed by the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), also called Republic of Artsakh. It was very straightforward to travel to the capital city Stepanakert, which is rather a big town than a real city.

I settled down in a small guesthouse in the capital Stepanekrt , where a group of local workers and a Japanese backpacker Saifa were already tasting local wine and liquors. I joined them and the conversation in various languages brought up deep thoughts about Nagorno-Karabakh history, present and future.

The general opinion and current status show that NKR is definitely tied with Armenia in communication, language, economy and culture. It has actually very little to do with Azerbaijan, confirming wrong decision in Soviet times when it was put under the umbrella of its eastern neighbor.

Next day I watched a local football game with my new Japanese friend Saifa. I don’t usually go to football games, but there is special occasion when you can express appreciation to local community.

The Artsakh State Museum of Local History is located in a small building one block south of the Presidential palace. It exhibits historical facts, items and photos from 1990 to these days. Three ladies welcomed me and explained some historical facts in a mix of broken English and selected Russian words to help me understand the essence. It was fun, instructive and open communication. We took a joint photo at the end.

A symbol of the Armenian heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh is a famous monument north of Stepanekrt named We Are Our Mountains.

The monument is made from volcanic tufa and depicts an old man and woman hewn from rock, representing the mountain people of Karabakh. Grandmother and Grandfather. The use of the monument motive during a video clip preceding Armenia’s performance at Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the first of several political conflicts during the competition surrounding Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The first Christian country, with one of the most advanced alphabets, famous cognac and harsh history has not impressed me. It is hard to say what was the main reason, but definitely I was not feeling the hospitality, nor interest in old but plain historical buildings.

In general, I like self-proclaimed territories & republics, because they maintain certain originality and absolutely everybody is thrilled with foreign visitors – Nagorno Karabagh is no exception.

Maybe there will be a chance to return to Armenia, explore it again one day and change my perception.