Armenia - Iran Tour

Armenia - Iran

Day 1: Departure

Day 2: Arrival - Yerevan City Tour / History Museum / Etchmiatsin / Zvartnots

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. Departure to Echmiadzin which is a mere 20 km from Yerevan. Echmiadzin Cathedral is one of the oldest standing churches in Christendom.

Opportunity to have lunch in a local community tasting homemade dishes and communicating with the locals. Drive back to Yerevan with a stop at the ruins of Zvartnots Temple (7th c.) Welcome dinner in a traditional Armenian restaurant. Overnight at the hotel in Yerevan.

Day 3 / Yerevan / Garni / Geghard / Matenadaran

After breakfast departs for 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-story 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 Armenian national bread "lavash" making process. Drive back to Yerevan. Visit the Matenadaran depository of manuscripts which contains historical documents from all over Europe and Asia throughout the many countries. Opportunity to have a farewell dinner in an Armenian restaurant with folk music. Overnight at the hotel in Yerevan.

Day 4: Yerevan / Khor Virap / Noravank / Karahounge / Goris

After breakfast drive to Khor Virap Monastery. This fortified monastery is a 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 dissemination 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 of St. Gregory, the Illuminator stayed in that pit for 13 years. Drive to Vayots Dzor region.

Visit Noravank Monastery. Noravank (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-story 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 the Syunik region. Visit Karahunge (Stonehenge), an ancient observatory 6mil B.C. 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 settlements 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. Access to it is very complicated due to the terrain features. Nevertheless, 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 / Meghri / Armenian-Iranian / Jolfa/ Marand

Breakfast at the hotel. Drive to Meghri (Syunik region) across the Iran-Armenian border. Border formalities: bus and guide change. On the way visit the beautiful monastery of St. Stephen, isolated among the hills (XIII c.). Visit the medieval castle and church (XVI-XVIII century). Drive to the historical town of Jolfa, located near the Aras River. Jolfa served as a stronghold for Christian Armenians to have a rich and unique culture. Drive to the city of Marand. Dinner and overnight in Marand.

Day 7: Marand / Ghara Kelissa / Tabriz

Breakfast at the hotel. Drive to the northwest through the ruins of the citadel at the time of Urartu. Visit Garah Kelissa and one of the most famous monuments in Iran and a Christian pilgrimage site: Armenian Church St. Thaddeus (IV-XIII c. proposed as World Heritage by UNESCO), the largest and most beautiful Armenian church in Iran. Drive to Tabriz. Dinner and overnight in Tabriz.

Day 8: Tabriz / Kandovan / Tabriz

Breakfast at the hotel. Start the tour by visiting Tabriz, the ancient Persian capital. Visit the Friday Mosque and the Blue Mosque destroyed several times by earthquakes) and is regarded as the masterpiece of decoration enameled in Iran. Visit the Municipality building, the remains of the citadel of Alishah (Arg-e-Tabriz), the old bazaar, and Chehel Dokhtar Bridge, then walk to the Rose Garden of the Golie Island. Lunchtime. Continue the tour to the troglodyte village of Kandovan, a traditional village with houses built in the rock that will remind you of Cappadocia in Turkey. Drive back to Tabriz. Dinner and overnight in Tabriz.

Day 9: Tabriz/ Takhte Soleiman/ Zanjan

Breakfast at the hotel. Drive to the archaeological site of Takht-e Soleiman (Throne of Solomon) classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is one of the archaeological highlights in western Iran. It is located at 2500 m altitude. The fortress dates from the time of Sasanian III c. AD and is linked to the cult Mazdean. Here one can find remains of palaces, warehouses, and the Temple of Fire.

Visit also Zandan e-Soleiman, the prison of Salomon with a depth of 60m. Tour around Zanja: the capital of cutlery, and visit the Knives factory, a very original historical monument. Visit the Jame Mosque, the House of Zolfaghari. Continue discovering the lively Bazaar, one of the largest bazaars of Iran at the time of Qadjar. Dinner and overnight in Zanjan.

Day 10: Zanjan/ Sultanieh/ Qazvin/ Tehran

Breakfast at the hotel. Start the tour to Sultanieh to visit the Mausoleum of Oldjaïtou, which has one of the biggest domes in the world (UNESCO world heritage). Sultanieh was once the capital of Mongolian Ilkhan. Continue the tour to Qazvin, a major transit center since ancient times, and visit the Friday Mosque, the mausoleum of Hussein, and Chazdeh House Aminiha. Lunchtime. Drive to Teheran. Dinner and overnight in Teheran.

Day 11: Departure

Transfer to the airport. Departure home!

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