Armenia Photos Khor Virap to end of Armenia

Our clearest view of Mt. Ararat where Noah’s ark is said to have been found

Khor Virap (means deep well) is an Armenian Monastery in the fertile Ararat plain with Mount Ararat in the background

St. Gregory was imprisoned here in a well full of snakes & insects for 13 years because he refused to place a wreath at the foot of the pagan goddess Anahit. He survived supposedly because a villager provided him with food.

(Closed) Turkey boarder on left (white guard house) & Armenian border on right (dark green guard house) - about 15 miles from the monastery

Red, blue & apricot Armenian flag at the highest point on the monastery site

Our next visit was to the beautifully located Noravank Monastery 13th century

Noravank Monastery is located in a narrow gorge with tall, sheer colorful cliffs directly across from the monastery

Garni Temple - only Greco Roman colonnaded building in Armenia, sitting on a cliff overlooking the ravine of the Azat River & the Gegham Mountains

The pagan temple was dedicated to the the Armenian sun god Mihr, built in the middle of the first century, ruined by invasions and earthquakes it was reconstructed in the late 1960’s

Gorge near the temple

Geghard Monastery 4th century, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Monastery Chapel - notice the Armenian niches

Geghard Monastery partially carved out of the adjacent mountain surrounded by cliffs

Entrance to a burial room with tombs where we were fortunate to listen to choirs paying homage to those interned in the tomb

Entrance to Etchmiadzin Cathedral - the center of American Apostolic Church (their Vatican)

The Treasury on the grounds of the Cathedral contains historical artifacts.

In this framed picture of the cross, the matte is believed to be a piece from Noah's ark found at Mount Ararat (bottom left hand side of the wood is broken off)