Garni, Geghard & Tsaghkadzor Ropeway

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   Hotel in YerevanPick-up at your address at the chosen time09:00
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   Charents Arch, view of Mount AraratCharents Arch, a stone pavilion open at both ends, stands on a hill by the road from Yerevan to Garni, near the village of Voghjaberd. Architect Rafael Israelyan built it in 1957 so that the opening, lined inside with orange tuff, frames Mount Ararat above the Ararat Plain. Lines by the poet Yeghishe Charents about Masis, the Armenian name for Ararat, are carved along the arch, and the monument takes its name from them. Flights of steps lead up from the parking area, and the mountain is visible only in clear weather.15 min

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   © BarevTrip

   Charents Arch, a stone pavilion open at both ends, stands on a hill by the road from Yerevan to Garni, near the village of Voghjaberd. Architect Rafael Israelyan built it in 1957 so that the opening, lined inside with orange tuff, frames Mount Ararat above the Ararat Plain. Lines by the poet Yeghishe Charents about Masis, the Armenian name for Ararat, are carved along the arch, and the monument takes its name from them. Flights of steps lead up from the parking area, and the mountain is visible only in clear weather.

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   Garni TempleGarni is an ancient temple on a promontory above the Azat River gorge, traditionally dated to the 1st century AD. Twenty-four Ionic columns of grey basalt stand on a podium reached by nine high steps. An earthquake brought the building down in 1679, and in 1969–1975 it was reassembled from the surviving blocks. Nearby are the ruins of a 3rd-century bathhouse with a mosaic floor, the foundations of a 7th-century church and viewpoints over the gorge.60 min
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   Geghard MonasteryGeghard, a working monastery of the Armenian Apostolic Church, stands at the head of the Azat River gorge beneath sheer cliffs. Its main church, the Katoghike, was built in 1215, while the two churches and burial chambers adjoining it were carved straight into the rock in the 13th century and are lit through openings in their vaults. A spring flows in one of the rock-cut churches, and the tomb of the Proshyan princes bears their family coat of arms in relief. Together with the upper Azat Valley, the monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.60 min
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   TsaghkadzorTsaghkadzor is a small resort town on the eastern slope of Mount Teghenis, about an hour's drive from Yerevan. Its name means "valley of flowers". In Soviet times a training base for Olympic athletes and a chairlift were built here, and today the town is a ski resort in winter and a forest retreat in summer. It is home to the 11th–13th-century Kecharis Monastery and the Orbeli Brothers House-Museum, and from the western edge of town the chairlift climbs high up the slope of Teghenis.10 min
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   Tsaghkadzor ropeway (ticket not included)The Tsaghkadzor Ropeway has been running since 1967. It is a chairlift on the eastern slope of Mount Teghenis: open chairs pass over forest and mountain meadows, and three lifts in a row climb from the lower station at about 1,970 metres to the upper one at 2,819 metres. From the top you look down on the Tsaghkadzor valley and, on a clear day, see Mount Ararat. In winter it serves a ski resort; in the warmer months people ride it for the view.60 min
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   Kecharis MonasteryKecharis is a working monastery of the 11th to 13th centuries on the north-western edge of Tsaghkadzor. Three churches stand close together on one site, with a gavit, or narthex, adjoining the main one, and around them lies a cemetery with khachkars from the 11th to 17th centuries. The main church of Saint Gregory dates from the early 11th century, and Katoghike was built in 1203–1214. Some 120 metres to the west stands the small church of Surb Harutyun from 1220 with its own gavit.30 min
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   Hotel in YerevanReturn to the same or another address in the city≈ 17:00

Driving between stops takes about 4 h. You can change the order by telling the driver.