Hello I visited there for the first time in my life and only 2 days, the city itself actually saw half a day after lunch and half a day before lunch. Here's what I got. In tripadvisor before the trip, the list of local attractions did not impress me.
You can see the route map here. Start - in part 1, part 2, part 3 Sevanavank Monastery [24]. Today the monastery is located on the peninsula. But before the decrease in the water level in Sevan, he was on the island.
You can see the route map here. Start - in part 1, Part 2 Goshavank Monastery[10]. Erected in the XII century. on the site of the ancient Getik monastery destroyed by an earthquake (named after the river flowing nearby) by order of Prince Zakarian.
You can see the route map here. Beginning - in part 1 Hovhanavank Monastery [1] (Hovhanavank village north of Ashtarak). According to legend, the founder and first priest of this monastery was Gregory the Illuminator.
The last part of my story about the spring trip to Armenia will be devoted to previously missed Christian monuments: churches and monasteries that we saw. These monuments are shown to the guests of the country most often.
I will pay most attention here to khachkars. But I will also mention places where you can see unusual carvings or small monuments, sometimes combined with carvings. “Khachkar” means “cross-stone” (by analogy with “kar” in the word “Karahunj”, which I have already mentioned).
Scheme of the described trip here. Beginning - see part 1 I skip the centuries of the beginning of Christianity and the construction of temples, monasteries, schools after the appearance of the alphabet.
Scheme of the described trip here In this story, I will have to travel not in space, but in time. That is, it will be a historical journey. Therefore, anyone who is not interested in this can omit this part.
My first time in the mountains was in the 1980s. These were the Eastern Carpathians. When she returned, she spoke only about the mountains. Tired of all your admiration. But those were the wooded Carpathians.
Red is the route by rented car, blue is the group tour by minibus The numbers next to the circles on this map indicate stops along our route. Those who wish can follow the links at the end of the story and read more about these places.