Town seen from the road in Armenia.The Debed River and the road to Yerevan.Mountains along the Debed River.Church of St. Hripsimé, erected in 618 AD.Inside the Church of St. Hripsimé.Prayer candles inside the church.Tombstone of Saint Hripsimé.Church of St. Gayane, built by Catholicos Ezra I in the year 630 AD.Inside the Church of St. Gayane.Etchmiadzin Cathedral – the first cathedral built in Ancient Armenia and the oldest cathedral in the world.Inside Etchmiadzin Cathedral.Looking up at the dome in Etchmiadzin Cathedral.Reliquary containing a fragment of Noah’s Ark.The Holy Lance (the spear which pierced Jesus), brought to Armenia by the Apostle Thaddeus – there are two other spears that claim to be the Holy Lance: one in Vienna and the other in the Vatican.Reliquary containing a piece of the True Cross.Battle Cross of Armenian King Ashot II Yerkat, from the 10th-century AD.Priestly vestments on display in a case with a Right Hand Reliquary containing a relic of St. Sargis.Right Hand Reliquary containing a relic of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr.Zvartnots, the ruins of an ancient cathedral that was built on the site where St. Gregory the Illuminator met King T’rdat, initiating the king’s conversion and leading Armenia to adopting Christianity as the state religion (the first nation to do so, in 301 AD).Columns and arches that once made up the central round hall inside.View of Zvartnots from the old wine press.Grapevine relief.Orchard at Zvartnots.View of Mount Ararat and Little Ararat in the distance.Armenian tonir (their version of “tandoor”) with flue over it.Barbeque pork and slices of potatoes on a rack, taken out of the Armenian tonir.My traditional Armenian lunch.Geghard Monastery in the distance.Dried meats and fruits on sale outside of Geghard Monastery.Looking at the exterior of the Katoghikeh in Geghard Monastery, which was established by St. Gregory the Illuminator in the 4th-century AD.Woman praying in the center of the Katoghikeh Gavit in Geghard Monastery.The Katoghikeh in Geghard Monastery.Inside the Proshian Sepulchre, looking at the entrance to the Proshian Church.Prayer candles in the monastery.The entrance to a monk’s cell, carved in to the cliff at Geghard Monastery.Bridge over a creek at Geghard Monastery.The Temple of Mihr, at the ancient settlement of Garni.Inside the Temple of Mihr.Angle-view of the Temple of Mihr with the ruins of St. Sion in the foreground.View of the mountainous valley at Garni.Bottle of Armenian red wine from the Artsakh region.View of Mount Ararat and Little Ararat (left) with Khor Virap Monastery on the hill in the foreground.St. Astvatsatsin Church at Khor Virap Monastery.Inside St. Astvatsatsin Church.Graffiti on the structure built over the large underground cell where St. Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned.The ladder entrance to the pit where St. Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned.The Areni Winery.Seven different wines, each produced from different fruits: quinces, peaches, apricots, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, and pomegranates.“Heaven… I’m in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.”Looking up at Noravank Monastery in the Amaghu Valley.St. Astvatsatsin Church on the left and St. Stepanos Nakhav’ka Church with St. Grigor’s Chapel to the right, at Noravank Monastery.The ruins of St. Karapet Church, next to St. Stepanos Nakhav’ka Church.Prayer candles inside St. Stepanos Nakhav’ka Gavit.The facade of St. Astvatsatsin Church.Carved entrance to a cave in the Amaghu Valley.The village of Halidzor and the Vorotan Valley, seen from the Tatev cableway.The ruins of Harsnadzor, near the Tatev Monastery.The abandoned cloister which is connected by a tunnel to the Tatev Monastery.St. Astvatsatsin Church in the Tatev Monastery complex.Saints Poghos and Petros Church, seen from St. Astvatsatsin Church in the Tatev Monastery complex.Student dormitory at Tatev Monastery.Saints Poghos and Petros Church.Inside Saints Poghos and Petros Church.Another view inside Saints Poghos and Petros Church.Headscarves for women to use inside the church.Orchard with the Tatev Monastery complex behind it.Snow covered mountains in the Zangezur Range in the Lesser Caucasus.The sun setting behind the Zangezur Mountain Range with Mount Ararat visible in the distance.Bottle of semi-dry red wine produced by the Areni Winery.Statue near the Holy Mother of God Kathoghike Church.The Holy Mother of God Katoghike Church (the small medieval one) next to the large, recently constructed St. Anna Church.The Opera Theater in Yerevan.Yerevan Cascade and sculpture park.Design on the lowest-level of the Yerevan Cascade.Another level of the Yerevan Cascade with sculptures integrated in to the design.View of Yerevan from the top of the Cascade.The Fiftieth Anniversary of Soviet Armenia Movement Monument.Relief in the monument park dedicated to the Fiftieth Anniversary of Soviet Armenia.Gas pipes at a street in Yerevan – they are like this almost everywhere in Armenia.The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (commonly referred to as the Matenadaran).Sculpture of Martiros Saryan (an Armenian painter).The Blue Mosque in Yerevan.Entrance and minaret for Blue Mosque.St. Sarkis Cathedral.Closeup of the sculpture above the entrance to the St. Sarkis Cathedral.Drinking fountain, continuously flowing from an underground spring, near the cathedral – these spring-fed drinking fountains can be found all over Yerevan.Inside the St. Sarkis Cathedral.The Ararat Cognac Factory.St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, built to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as a state religion in Armenia.Inside the St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral.Statue near the St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral.Charents Street in Yerevan.Bottle of Armenian semi-dry red wine, crafted from Areni Noir and Tozot grapes.Spring-fed drinking fountain in Yerevan.Argishti I Cuneiform inscription near the entrance to Erebuni Fortress.Ruins at Erebuni Fortress.Fresco in the Temple to Khaldi at Erebuni Fortress.Closeup of a part of the fresco in the temple.Yerevan, seen from Erebuni Fortress.Apartment building in Yerevan.Three little piggies that went to the market and never returned home.History Museum of Armenia, at Republic Square.Bull sculpture found in Yerevan.Memorial plaques on a building’s facade in Yerevan.Armenian dry red wine made from Areni grapes.
