Around Yerevan, part III: Elections, Monastery

Trip Start Mar 21, 2005
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Trip End Ongoing


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Where I stayed
Anahit Stepanyan Homestay
(Yerevan hotels)

Flag of Armenia  ,
Sunday, February 10, 2008

Everywhere I went, I poked around monasteries and churches looking for centuries-old khatchkars outside and lighting candles inside. Most churches and khatchkars in Armenia, it seems, date from between the seventh and fourteenth centuries, after the Arabs were expelled and before Tamerlane pillaged the lands, although a few are older and many are more recent, or at least more-recently redesigned, restored, or repainted. Many of them are also located in fittingly remote or hard-to-reach places, which is another reason why the highlands of Armenia have probably remained Christian, while surrounded by Muslims.

On one poke-around, I visited Garni Temple and Gegard Monastery, located 10 kilometers from one another and close to town, thus making a good day trip. Garni Temple was an ancient Roman Sun Temple, dedicated to Helios. Now fully reconstructed, about half the stones are newly-carved, though much less intricate, to hold the building in place and replace the missing pieces.

Ten kilometers further was Geghard Monastery. As time was short and there was no marshrukas to the monastery, hidden in a canyon in the basaltic Geghama Range, I took a taxi from Garni, with a friendly local driver. I told him I would walk back, as the day was still young enough.

Geghard was surrounded by canyon walls and its own basaltic monastery walls, with monk meditation quarters dug into the surrounding cliffs, with khatchkars and ancient symbols surrounded by Celtic knotwork abounding. Garni Temple
Garni Temple
 The monastery blended with the surroundings and the stones of the 13th century Surp Katoghike--its conical dome and cylindrical drum and vaulted ceilings--were from the surrounding basaltic cliffs.

Inside was a holy spring emanating from a rock-hewn cave called Avazan, meaning basin, another cave called Jhamatun with bas-relief coat-of-arms with chained lions and an eagle, and an inner cave church, Astvatsatsin, with crosses and floral patterns carved into the rock walls. The main Surp Katoghike, behind a gavit with candle offerings, was full with a wedding party from Yerevan, with the priest blessing them.

I walked back along the road, back down the canyon until I reached Garni, flagged a bus, and returned to Yerevan.

On the last day, back in Yerevan, loud cheering came from outside Anahit's windows. Nearby, in Opera Square, was an opposition rally for presidential candidate Ter Petrosian. The elections were scheduled for February 18, so were becoming heated. Thousands of people attended the rally, waving Armenian flags and chanting or cheering.

The six days in and around Yerevan were a quick yet good look into Armenian culture, everything from presidential elections to its artistic, religious, and bloody past.
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