Armenia Things to Do Tips by RedEaredPanda Top 5 Page for this destination

Statue of Mother Armenia in Yerevan

In the picture, you can see a larger picture of Statue of Mother Armenia by night illuminated by projector lights and in the foregroud, a smaller more detailed picture, by day. The View of the city of Yerevan from where the statue is located is breath taking.. You can see the entire city from the top.

The 21 meter Statue of Mother Armenia was constructed in 1950 as the Victory Memorial in memory of the Great Patriotic War. This bronze statue, a heroic figure holding a sword actually occupies the space formerly occupied by a 16.5 meter tall statue of Stalin.

The Statue and its location is perhaps the best place to get a view of the city. Don't miss the opportunity.

St. Hripsime's Church and Tomb in Ejmiatsin

St. Hripsime was one of the refugee nuns from Rome in the late 3rd century who were persecuted under the rule of King Trdat III and the king himself tried to marry first then rape her. This 7th century church dedicated to her is unquestionably one of Armenia's architectural gems. It was built by order of katholikos Komitas in 618.

Standing on a raised paved area above the road and with the old fortified wall on the west side, the very pale pink tuff church is essentially a cross-dome church, with a 16 sided tambour, although it is more square most. It has four apses with a corner room between each apse.

We were fortunate to visit this church on 3 separate occasions. Since it was located fairly close to some friends who lived on the same street that church is, we walked over to it and spent a good chunk of time exploring. We also attended our good friend's wedding there as well.

When visiting St. Hripsime's Church in Ejmiatsin, make sure you walk down the stairs from within the church on one of the corners to visit St. Hripsime's Tomb.

The tomb is centrally placed in the middle of an underground room surrounded by 7th century stones. Trust me, the place smells and feels like many many centuries old. The picture of St. Hripsime is on the tomb stone and visited by nearly all tourists who visit the city of Ejmiatsin. You must also take notice to the small little window covered by glass where you will find a hand sized rock sitting inside. It is believed that St. Hripsime was murdered by a blow with this rock to the head. The rock is located on the front wall as you enter the underground room.

Directions: It is the first church one comes across while driving to Ejmiatsin from Yerevan. It is located on the right hand side on Mesrop Mashtots Street.

St. Gayane's Church in Ejmiatsin City

St. Gayane church is another famous church in the city of Ejmiatsin after Ejmiatsin main Cathedral and St. Hripsime Church. They all all located near one another hence one can walk from one church to the other.

The history of St. Gayane Church has it that this Church was the abbess of the fleeing nuns persecuted by Trdat III king. The church was built by order of Katholikos Ezr in 630 on the site of Gayane's martyrium. By early 17th century it was forlorn, roof having collapsed to leave just the walls and piers standing. Major reconstruction was therefore carried out in 1651-53 and a chapel was constructed under the east apse of the saint's relics.

In 1683 a gallery was added at the west end. the 3 cathedral arches are open while the smaller side ones built to house the remains of dignitaries of the church are blanked off and topped with six column belfries.

On Sundays, St Gayane's church is a popular place for sacrifices and or celebrating christenings..

Directions: St. Gayane's church can be seen from Ejmiatsin Cathedral and monastary. It is also off of the street Araratian. If can't locate it, just ask anyone and they will point the way.

Ejmiatsin Cathedral and Monastary

On the basis of Archaeological evidence, the first monastary at Ejmiatsin is of the basilica form and built and rebuilt in the 480s. This monastary was built on the site where St. Gregory the Illuminator is said to have seen the light from above. It is a complex of many buildings with the main church in the center. There are theology students studying the religion of Christianity in some of the buildings surrounding the church.

On Sundays, there is an extensive mass with many people visiting the church. Thousands of tourists each year visit the city of Ejmiatsin including the one and only Pope residing in Italy who visited Armenia in the past couple of years. I would recommend visiting the monastary and the church on a sunday to see the sermon and the mass. It was an overwhelmingly emotional visit for the both of us to visit this holly site.

One important tip to remember about the church is that taking photographs with a flash is prohibited inside of the church. However, I saw people with videocameras during the mass.

Visiting this church and the monastary complex should be on everyone's top 10 sites to visit in Armenia. I highly recommend visiting on Sunday along with the other two famous monastaries in the city of Ejmiatsin, St. Hripsime and St. Gayane Monastaries.

City of Ejmiastin is a 20-30 minute drive with a taxi from Yerevan, the capital going East.

Directions: In the city of Ejmiatsin, it has entrances from Araratian Street and from Atarbekian street. Every taxi driver in Armenia knows of the location so there is no way to miss the church.

Erebuni Museum and Ruins in Yerevan

Erebuni, on a hilltop in the southern part of the city is the original site of Yerevan. Visitors can see the partially excavated remains of the site of the city together with interesting objects found there which are now housed in a worthwhile museum at the bottom of the hill.

Erebuni was discovered by chance in 1950 during exploration of Arin Berd Monastery which had later been built on the site. An English speaking guide is available in the museum as well as a booklet giving a brief description in five languages.

There is a good selection of jewelry ceramics and weapons found on the site. Of particular interest is three silver rythons one of which is shaped like a horse, one like a bull's head and one like a man on horseback. The helmet of king Sarduri II is on dispaly together with a large jug, possibly a funerary urn, with bull's heads.

museum is closed on Mondays but open the rest of the week from 10:30am to 4:00pm. There is a cover charge to get into the museum building (somewhere in the neighborhood of US $2.00). There are many many steps leading to the hill top ruins from the museum building one can climb but it's tedious and for adventurous only. The rest of us can get to the ruins by car by driving road next to the museum north and making a left on one of the dirt roads leading to the hill top.

Directions: The museum can be reached from Zoravar Andranik metro station by taking the tram 7 or trolley bus 2 or 4. Easier way is to get a taxi for US $2.00 and ask for the Erebuni Museum in Yerevan.

The Opera House in Yerevan

The project of Yerevan's Opera House was began in 30's from the plans of famous Armenian city architect Tamanyan, who was the first to lay and plan the foundations of modern Yerevan in 1920's and 30's.

In 1937 the splendid and grandeur project of Opera House received the "Grande Prix" award of architectural design in an architectural exhibition in Paris. Opera House was by far the greatest achievement of Tamanyan's genius project building in this respect.

Inside is the Khachaturian Hall, named after world famous renowned composer, Aram Khachaturian. Tickets and schedules for the world class performances can usually be obtained for under $2 at the ticket booth.

At the back of the Opera House is a statue of the Armenian Composer, Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978). Around the front, the right hand statue is the eponymous Spendiarian while to the left is Hovanes Toumanian, a second of whose poems was the source of the most famous Armenian Opera "Anoush".

Directions: Corner of Mashtots and Sayat Nova Streets

Zvartnots: A different View Inside Site

Today, the area on the east side is being used for laying out various stones according to which story of the building they are thought to belong.

There is some interesting sculptured decoration amongst the ruins including one capital on the southeast pillar carved with a fine representation of an eagle: beyond the ruins can be seen the remains of other buildings including Nerses' Palace and a winery with vats sunk into the ground.

Zvartnots Probably Destroyed by Earthquake

The church of St. George at Zvartnots decorated with frescos was destroyed probably by and eathquake in 930, to be lost under layers of dirt and debris and even the location was forgotten until its rediscovery in the early 20th century.

It is hard to imagine that an archaeological site this big can be barried for centuries and no one has excavated it until only a century ago. This site is protected by UNESCO archaeological organization.

Zvartnots Enterance to the Site

Leaving Yerevan towards Ejmiatsin on the left (or the south) side, the entrance driveway is marked by elaborate gates and an eagle with a ring in its beak gazing back over its shoulder.

This statue is the work of famous artist and sculptor Ervand Kochar.

Zvartnots (Celestial Angels)

St. George at Zvartnots church was built between 643 and 652 by Katholikos Nerses III and is believed to have been a three story structure. Modern artists' impressions of its appearance are inevitably conjectural.

Zvartnots is an amazing site of historic era..
As you drive towards Ejmiatsin from Yerevan, it is passed Musaler and is located on the left hand side. The admission per person to this UNESCO protected archaeological site is 250 Drams which translated into US 50 cents. If you pass the gate with a taxi or a vehicle and go closer to the site, they do charge an additional 200 Drams or US 40 cents for the vehicle.

I would strongly recommend anyone who is driving towards Ejmiatsin from Yerevan to stop by this amazing site. It is well worth its admission rate given this site was barried completely and unheard of until one century ago.

Directions: When driving towards Ejmiatsin from Yerevan, pass Muslarer village and it is located on your left hand side.. The gate is distinguished by an eagle standing tall with a ring in its mouth.