Khor Virap, Azat, Garni & Geghard

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   Hotel in YerevanPick-up at your address at the chosen time09:00
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   Khor Virap Monastery and Ararat viewpointKhor Virap is a working monastery on a rocky hill in the Ararat Valley, close to the Turkish border, with Mount Ararat rising directly opposite. According to church tradition, Gregory the Illuminator was held here in an underground dungeon for thirteen years. Most of today's buildings date from the 17th century: a wall with round towers, the Church of the Holy Mother of God and a chapel where a narrow iron ladder leads down into a pit about six metres deep. The surrounding hills hold the ruins of Artashat, an ancient Armenian capital.60 min

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   © BarevTrip

   Khor Virap is a working monastery on a rocky hill in the Ararat Valley, close to the Turkish border, with Mount Ararat rising directly opposite. According to church tradition, Gregory the Illuminator was held here in an underground dungeon for thirteen years. Most of today's buildings date from the 17th century: a wall with round towers, the Church of the Holy Mother of God and a chapel where a narrow iron ladder leads down into a pit about six metres deep. The surrounding hills hold the ruins of Artashat, an ancient Armenian capital.

   Free entry

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   Azat reservoir viewpointAzat Reservoir is a man-made lake on the Azat River above the village of Lanjazat, about 24 km by road from central Yerevan. Its earth dam was built to irrigate the Ararat Plain, and the reservoir was first filled in 1976. From the viewpoints above the northern shore you look over green-turquoise water with headlands and islands set among bare red and grey slopes, and on a clear day Mount Ararat stands on the horizon.15 min
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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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   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
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   Hotel in YerevanReturn to the same or another address in the city≈ 17:00

Driving between stops takes about 4.5 h. You can change the order by telling the driver.