Highlights Of Armenia Tour

Highlights of Armenia

Day 1: Departure

Departure from home country

Day 2: Arrival / Yerevan City Tour / Matenadaran / Brandy Factory

Arrival at International Zvartnots airport. Meet and greet transfer to the hotel. Accommodation at the hotel. Rest. After breakfast starts a city tour around Yerevan visiting Memorial Park and Tsiternakaberd memorial and the museum of victims of Genocide. Visit the Matenadaran depository of the manuscript which contains historical documents from all over Europe and Asia throughout the centuries. Visit Armenia Brandy Factory founded 1887. During the International Exhibition in Paris in 1900, the brandy received the Grand-Prix and the legal right to be called ‘cognac’, not ‘brandy’. Opportunity to have welcome dinner in an Armenian restaurant. Overnight at the hotel in Yerevan.

Day 3: Yerevan / Etchmiatsin / Zvartnots / History Museum

After breakfast departure to Echmiadzin which is a mere 20 km from Yerevan. Echmiadzin Cathedral is one of the oldest standing churches in Christendom. Echmiadzin was founded by King Vagarshak (117-140) in the place of Vardkesavan, an ancient settlement of the third-second centuries B.C. The word "Echmiadzin" means The coming of the only-begotten, and the cathedral was built on the very spot Grigor Luysavorich (St. Gregory the Illuminator) dreamt Jesus Himself descended from heaven to show him where He wanted the church to be built. Drive back to Yerevan with a stop at the ruins of Zvartnots Temple (7th c.). Visit Armenian National History Museum. Overnight at the hotel in Yerevan.

Day 4: Yerevan / Khor Virap / Noravank / Goris

After breakfast drive to Khor Virap Monastery. This fortified monastery is the place of pilgrimage and one of the most worshipped ones in Armenia and the holy site for the Armenian Apostolic Church. The monastery was erected in the 6th – 17th centuries above the dungeon where St. Gregory the Illuminator, the Baptist of Armenia, had been kept for the disseminating of Christianity until tsar Trdat decided to adopt this religion.

The dungeon where the holy elder was tortured used to be the tsar's dungeon (“Khor Virap” – “deep pit”). The pit swarming with poisonous snakes and scorpions served as a prison. According to the legend St. Gregory, the Illuminator stayed in that pit for 13 years. Drive to Vayots Dzor region.

Visit Noravank Monastery. Noravank (Նորավանք, meaning "new monastery") is a 13th-century monastery, located 122 km from Yerevan in a narrow gorge made by the Darichay river, nearby the city of Yeghegnadzor, Armenia. The gorge is known for its tall, sheer, brick-red cliffs, directly across from the monastery. The monastery is best known for its two-storey S. Astvatsatsin church, which grants access to the second floor by way of narrow stones jutting out from the face of the building. In the 13th–14th centuries, the monastery became a residence of Syunik's bishops and, consequently. a major religious and, later, cultural center of Armenia closely connected with many of the local seats of learning, especially with Gladzor's famed university and library. Opportunity to have lunch in a local cave cafe tasting local food. Drive to Syunik region. Overnight at the hotel in Goris.

Day 5: Goris / Khndzoresk / Tatev Monastery / Goris

Start the tour from Goris to explore the city, visiting the exciting Dig Dig stones – a natural monument. Nestled in a bowl of green hills and mountains, with interesting formations and many previously inhabited caves in them, Goris has some of the nicest overall Armenian architecture in Armenia.

Excursion tour to Khndzoresk which is a cave village and there are many signs of past settlement throughout the valley which are just waiting for discovery. You will see that many of the caves have been carved out by man and they served as houses for people. Continue exploring the monastic complex of Tatev.

The jewel of medieval Armenian architecture, Tatev, was constructed in the 9th – 13th centuries. The access to it is very complicated due to the terrain features. Nevertheless, the true lovers of unique ancient monuments do find ways to visit this masterpiece of medieval architecture. Take the chance to travel by the longest ropeway in the world. The world’s longest 5.7-kilometer ropeway called “Wings of Tatev” opened in Armenia on October 16, 2010. It will lead to the medieval Tatev Monastery located in the Tatev village of Syunik region, southern Armenia. The ropeway that can carry a visitor to the Monastery in 12 minutes will also be included in the Guinness Book of Records. Overnight at the hotel in Goris.

Day 6: Goris / Karahounge / Shaki Waterfall / Jermuk

Start tour to Karahunge (Stonehenge), ancient observatory 6mil B.C. It is located at 1770 m. above sea level and occupies 7 hectares of territory. The monument consists of about 223 basalt slabs of which 84 have 4-5cm long openings in them (which, for Stone Age, have been rendered with incredible smoothness). Drive to Shaki waterfall which is Armenia's highest waterfall, with a height of 18 m.

The Shaki Waterfall has situated 6 km from the town of Sisian. On the left side of the river Vorotan's gorge, basalt lava flows have solidified to form a ledge 18 meters high from which the waterfall cascades down. Drive to one of the resort towns of Armenia - Jermuk. It’s famous for its hot springs and its brand of mineral water that is bottled in the vicinity. The town is considered to be attractive for its huge waterfall, the natural bridge, the lake, its forests with walking trails, and mineral water pools. Overnight at the hotel in Jermuk.

Day 7: Jermuk / Selim Carvanssarai / Noratous / Lake Sevan

Drive to Noratous cemetery which is a medieval cemetery with a large number of early khachkars located in the village of Noratus, Gegharkunik marz near Gavar and Lake Sevan, 90 km north of Yerevan. The cemetery has the largest cluster of khachkars in the republic of Armenia. It is currently the largest surviving cemetery with khachkars. Drive to Lake Sevan on the way visiting Selim caravanserai which was built in 1332. Lake Sevan is the largest lake in Armenia and one of the largest high-altitude lakes in the world. The huge mountain lake takes up 5% of Armenia's surface area and is 2,000 meters above sea level. On a clear and sunny day, the water is a deep turquoise color. Sevan is a freshwater lake. Overnight at the hotel in Sevan.

Day 8: Lake Sevan / Garni / Geghard / Yerevan

After breakfast departure to Geghard temple. The monastery of Geghard is a unique architectural construction in the Kotayk province of Armenia, being partially carved out of the adjacent mountain, surrounded by cliffs. While the main chapel was built in 1215, the monastery complex was founded in the 4th century by Gregory the Illuminator at the site of a sacred spring inside a cave. Drive to Garni Temple. Garni became the last refuge of King Mithridates of Armenia, where he and his family were assassinated by his son-in-law and nephew Rhadamistus.

Several constructions and buildings have been identified within the enclosed area, including a two-storey royal summer palace, a bath complex, a church built in AD 897, a cemetery, and the site's most famous and best-preserved edifice, a peristyle Greco-roman temple built in the Ionic order. Opportunity to have lunch in a local house and watch the Armenia national bread "lavash" making process. Drive to Yerevan. Opportunity to have farewell dinner in a traditional Armenian restaurant with live folk music. Overnight at the hotel in Yerevan.

Day 9: Departure

Transfer to the airport. Departure home!

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