Armenia august 27 - 30

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Yerevan is actually one big terrace. The city has a laid backatmosphere. As soon as you are tired from walking -however leisurous- there is always a nice terrace nearby where you can drink and eat before you decide to stroll to the next cafe. We interrupted our strolls with a museum now and then.

The State Museum of Armenian History shows not only what the name stands for but also pays attention to the Armenian question, to the genocide and to what they call West Armenia, where the Turks spoil their churches. Indeed William Darlrymple describes in his book 'In the shadow of Byzantium' how the churches in East Turkey are under pressure.
The Matenadaran was another museum. Here manuscripts are kept from up to the 7th century. We saw e.g. a manuscript of Aristoteles for the first time translated in Armenian language.

Armenia is a sophisticated country, full of culture. We visited the Khor Viral Monastery just under Mount Ararat. Here St Gregory was imprisoned in a 50 meter deep well by pagan king Trdat during 12 years. After healing the king, Trdat converted to christianity, Gregory became the first Christian leader and Armenia became the first country where the christian church was founded (4th century). And still the people are strong christians. They consider themselves as descendants of Noah. As the story goes Noahs Arc stranded somewhere on the Ararat. So everything is quite logic. The only question left is was there a flood? According to Dutch geologist Salomon Kroonenberg (and a lot of others) the Mediterranean Sea was once completely out of water and so was the Black Sea and possibly the Caspian sea. So there must have been a flood when the water returned. When you look to Mount Ararat and see the flat landscape around it you can easily imagine there could have been a sea.

Another beauty is the Geghard Monastery, where the monks lived in caves, beautifully hidden in a canyon.
Nearby is the Garni Temple. It is the only Hellenistic temple of Armenia. It is from the first century and dedicated to Mythras, the Roman God of the sun. It is constructed according to the laws of Pythagoras (later the divine proportio).

We missed the Zvartnost cathedral and a lot more. Actually we were far too short in Armenia.
We took the plane of Armavia to Aleppo (Syria), where we arrived in the end of the afternoon.

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