Thursday October 13th

After a leisurely breakfast we set out to explore Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Twenty two metres high, Mother Armenia stands ready to fight against repression, and freedom for the citizens of Armenia.
                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                          

 

The manuscript library, the Matendaran, houses thousands of manuscripts from the 5th century onwards. There are over 23,000 manuscripts, documents and maps and some exquisite illuminated texts. The building was designed specifically as a manuscript store  and at the base of the building is a stake of Mashtots teaching his  alphabet (he invented the Armenian alphabet) whilst the stakes of six other scholars and writers are to be found near the door.

 





                                                        

 

After lunch we visited the Armenian Genocide Museum and memorial. The stark building is built into the hillside in order not to detract from the monument above.

 

 

 

 

The museum commemorates the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1922 and the story of this horrific event is told through photographs, documents, newspaper reports and films. Sadly,   Britain has not recognised the genocide.

 

In the evening we went to the ballet Spartacus by Kachachurian and performed by the Armenian state ballet company. Both the dancing and the music were thrilling and the evening was a great success.

 

 

Friday, October 14th

 

Today we set off to explore three of the country's top attractions. Echmiadzin is the Vatican of the Armenian church where legend has it that Sur' Grigor Lusavorich saw a beam of light fall to earth in a vision and where he then built the first Mother Church of Armenia.

 

 

 

The main cathedral is surrounded by lawns and flower beds , the Pontifical Residence Museum and other churches, seminaries and libraries within the compound,

 



 

and the interior of the church is noted for its frescoes.

 

 

At the back of the church is the Cathedral Museum which houses precious objects and relics collected by the church including wood from Noah's Ark from Mount Ararat, the spear used by the Roman soldier to pierce Christ's side when on the cross and a gold reliquary said to contain a relic of the cross.

 

After viewing the museum we then went on to visit the ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral which was built in the  7th century, destroyed in the 10th and the ruins are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

 

It was originally dedicated to Gregory the Illuminator who was the first Catholics of the Armenian church. The ruins were buried until the 20th century when they were excavated. Around the cathedral are the ruins of the palace and the wine press and tanks of a mediaeval winery.

Our next stop was the Geghard Monastery, named after the lance that pierced Chris's side at the crucifixion. (relic found in the museum, see above) This world heritage listed monastery was carved out of the rock face of the Azat River Gorge. It is thought that it was founded in the 4th century and the oldest surviving chapel dates back to the 12th century.

 

 

Inside the carvings are amazing and all lend to the atmosphere of this very special church.



 

 In the evening a stroll around the city brought us to the Republic Square where an illuminated fountain display was set to music and proved the perfect end to the day.