Holy day-trip!

Christianity has it's Vatican City. Islam has Mecca and Medina. And the Armenian Apostolic Church has Etchmiadzin. "Where?" you might say. Well, I hadn't heard of it either. So, of course, I had to check it out. Plus several other holy side trips to take from Yerevan.

Located a mere 20kms from the Armenian capital of Yerevan, Etchmiadzin has it's own long and distinguished history. Originally founded in 2nd or 3rd century B.C. , Etchmiadzin was the capital of ancient Armenia until the 4 century A.D. But it's age it not what makes it noteworthy. Sometime in the early 3rd Century the Etchmiadzin Cathedral was built and Armenia became the only country in the world the state religion of which was Christianity. Today, the city of 50,000+ was a bit of a surprise to me. With wide tree-lined streets, a few designer shops and reasonably well-manicured parks, it was not the typical secondary city you might see in the region. Quite likely due to it's importance to the people and their religion.

The sizable Etchmiadzin Complex has a number of buildings to check out. The first of which is the Etchmiadzin Cathedral itself. The building, while it's reasonably ornate, it makes up for its lack of dazzle by just being old. And UNESCO seems to agree by awarding it a heritage listing. Religiously devout, as well as camera wielding tourist flood the church with lights from a seemingly endless supply of prayer candles. Literally busloads of people come to visit. For wedding photos or a guest in town or just to get out of Yerevan. Oh yeah, there's the whole praying thing, too. While not exactly peaceful, it is still a lovely place to sit and reflect. The site houses many important religious artifacts as well. They've even got something called Surp Geghard (Holy Lance). Supposedly, it was used to pierce the side of Christ on the way to Calvary. There's an image of the Crucifixion rumoured to have been carved by St. John. All of these factors make the site important enough to warrant a visit from Pope John Paul himself in 2001 (although being the most travelled Pope in history, it was only a matter of time before he got to Etchmiazdin).

But the pilgrimage doesn't stop there. The town of Etchmiadzin is quite literally littered with ancient churches. Just behind the Holy See of Etchmiadzin is the Surp Gayane. Dating back some 1,400 years, a chapel was built for a prioress, and later transformed into the present day church in 1630. Near the beginning of town, as the bus drives in from Yerevan, is Surp Shogahat. A little more understated than some of the others. But i quite liked Surp Hripime (picture left). Contained within its own "city walls", the church tells a torrid tale of Hripime being killed for not marrying the king and then rising from the dead and taking over the world by eating the brains of the living. Or something like that anyway, my Russian isn't as good as it used to be. I found it to be the most tranquil of the churches as i was the only one there. Except for a few older women stealing flowers from the well maintained garden.Is it a sin to steal flowers from a church?

But the pious fun doesn't stop there. Only 4kms from the centre of Etchmiazdin are the ruins of ,what locals claim, was once the greatest church in all of Christendom. Zvartnots Cathedral was built in the mid 600's (even though that dates it over 100 years after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul). Alas, little remains of it today. Less than 300 years after construction was completed, an earthquake caused it to collapse. There are, however, several finely carved pillars which would have once held up the mighty structure. I honestly don't understand why it shares its UNESCO listing with the rest of Etchmiazdin. And the 1,000 Dram entrance fee is uncalled for. Supposedly, on a clear day the ruins are magnificently framed by the iconic Mt. Ararat. Unfortunately, the weather was quite sub-par my whole time in Armenia, and I never got that postcard photo. Quite honestly, this one is worth a miss. Getting to Etchmiazdin and Zvartnots is simple. Buses leave from Yerevan (200 Dram) from Sarian Poghots, behind the museum of modern art, quite close to the Blue Mosque.
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But ohhhh noooo, we're not done yet. Perched right on the Turkish/Armenian border 30 kms south-east of Yerevan is another iconic monastery. on a hillock overlooking river pastures, stork nests and guard outposts is Khor Virap Monastery. It was here that Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned in a deep well for 14 years (you can go down into the well). This place is THE photo opportunity in Armenia. So close to Mt. Ararat you can almost smell the doner. But yet again, poor visibility means I didn't get the photo. I'll pause while you wipe the tears away... Getting here is easy enough. From behind the train station in Yerevan, buses and mini-buses leave on some sort of sporadic schedule meaning there's something about every 2 hours or so.

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There's also Garni Temple and Gehard Monastery and blah-blah church which is totally different from the other churches as this church was built by a left-handed carpenter on a Thursday. Come on! I'm sure they are all important. And I mean no offence to anyone. But if you've seen on, you've seen them all. But still, one or even all of these location makes for great day trips out of Yerevan.