From the nomadic steppes of Kazakhstan to the frenetic streets of Hanoi, Asia is a continent so full of intrigue, adventure, solace, and spirituality that it has fixated and confounded travelers for centuries.
Not far from Etchmiadzin, Catholicos Nerses III sponsored the construction of the “Celestial Angels Cathedral” in the 7th century. Destroyed in the 10th century, its evocative ruins (🎫1300 AMD) now stand in a semi-industrial landscape. It was initially dedicated to – and housed relics of...
We made overnight in the 4th-largest city in Armenia, Vagharshapat (known as Etchmiadzin), located on the plain of the Aras River about 18 km west of the capital Yerevan. It is the seat of the primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is the place where Surp Grigor Lusavorich saw a...
We visited famous underground carved rooms in Arinj on the outskirts of Yerevan (🚖 1300 AMD/way). It all started when All Tosya Arakelyan wanted her husband Levon to build her a potato cellar. What she got in return was an incredibly intricate seven-level underground cave network built...
We spent a few days in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The city has a fine natural setting; it climbs the hillsides from the deep trench of the Hrazdan River framed by the extinct volcanic peaks of Mount Aragats and Mount Azhdaak to the north and Mount Ararat across the Turkish border to...