Day 78, Geghard Monastery, Armenia (3)

We are now off to the Geghard Monastery....

Named after the holy lance that pierced Christ's side at the crucifixion, Geghard Monastery stands in a steep scenic canyon.
The spear itself was once kept here but as we know it is now housed in the holy treasury at Echmiadzin.

Legend has it that Geghard Monastery was founded in the 4th century. The most ancient of the cave churches, St Gregory's, dates back to the 7th century. Once called Ayrivank (Cave Monastery), Geghard was burned by invading Arabs in 923.

As we approach the monastery, we see monastic cells built by monks.

Let's go there...I want to say a prayer/make a wish and tie a strip of cloth to a tree, and hope that it will come true. The trees here are all dotted with strips of cloth..obviously many people have sent their wishes out into the Universe....

Inside the monastery walls, Geghard's two main churches date from the 13th century. The principal structure, Surp Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) was built in 1215. The adjoining vestibule, larger than the church itself, with an intricate carved ceiling and nine arches, dates from 1215 to 1225.

Outside, above the south door, is a coat of arms of the family of the Zakarian prince who built it. The theme is a common Near Eastern one, with the lion symbolising royal might.

On the right-hand side of the vestibule are two entrances to chapels hewn from the rock.I am going to the chapel on the left hand side.the one that dates back from
the 1240s. Why??Because it contains a miraculous basin with spring water believed to be lucky or holy. Splashing some of this water on your body is said to keep
your skin youthful!! Forever young ;-) C'mon girls....ok Feroz you too!

Outside, steps on the left lead up the hill to a 10m passage into another church that has been carved out of the raw rock. The proportions in this room are nothing short of extraordinary, considering it was carved from the rock around it. The acoustics of the chamber are also quite amazing!!

So Sita, why is this a UNESCO site?
Because the monastery of Geghard contains a number of churches and tombs,most of them cut into the rock, which illustrate the very peak of Armenian
medieval architecture.The complex of medieval buildings is set into a landscape of great natural beauty, surrounded by towering cliffs at the entrance to the Azat Valley.

There is a wonderful legend about how the monastery was built. A brother and a sister from a noble family, who wanted to build a church, asked God to help them to decide the exact location. One morning they saw their hoe stuck on the top of the mountain. Soon after they built a splendid temple in the rock. Till the end of their lives they lived with faith, served the temple and died there.

Ok, Nopi, Marti, Sita.....I hope that you enjoyed your little UNESCO sites tour of Armenia.....let's hope our prayers that were written on the pieces of cloth come true, and we retain our youthful appearances after washing our faces with holy water..............good bye Armenia.........

Day 78, Cathedral of Echmiadzin, Armenia(2)

Next stop is the is the Vatican!
No, not the Vatican in Rome, its the Vatican of the Armenian Apostolic Church, The Cathdral of Echmiadzin.

Long before the arrival of Christianity the site was already considered a holy place.
Called Vagharshapat at the end of the 3rd century BC, a Zoroastrian fire temple had been functioning there for untold centuries.

The name Etchmiadzin means 'Only Begotten Descended' and refers to the place where Surp Grigor Lusavorich (St Gregory the Illuminator) saw a beam of light fall to the earth in a divine vision, and where he built the first Mayr Tachar (Mother Church of Armenia).

For Armenian Christians, Echmiadzin has unparalleled importance.

Did you know that Etchmiadzin was the capital of Armenia from 180-340 AD when Christianity was first adopted by the Armenian nation.
The church was rebuilt in the 6th and 7th centuries, with more recent additions in 1654 and 1868.

The cathedral has sprouted more bell towers over the last 400 years, but the core is much as St Gregory's vision guided him.

The Palace of the Catholicos in front of the Mayr Tachar is the home of the present Catholicos, Garegin II, enthroned in November 1999. He is the supreme prelate of the 1700-year-old Armenian Apostolic faith.

The cathedral and churches of Echmiatsin graphically illustrate the evolution and development of the Armenian central-domed cross-hall type of church, which exerted a profound influence on architectural and artistic development in the region.

Wow, Nopi has just told us that relics in the church collection include one of the lances that pierced the side of Christ; AND wood from Noah's Arc (this wood, which has been carbon dated as 6000 years old, was supposedly given by an angel to an Armenian monk who had tried to climb Mt. Ararat three times in the 13th century)!!

I am so glad that Nopi, the historian is with us on this tour.....;-)

Of course Sita, our UNESCO WHS expert, says that the cathedral and churches of Echmiatsin graphically illustrate the evolution and development of the Armenian central-domed cross-hall type of church, which exerted a profound influence on architectural and artistic development in the region.

Day 78, Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin, Armenia(1)

Nopi is nudging me....she wants to go to Armenia!
Why Nopi? You want to see some of the UNESCO sites.....now Sita and Marti are saying..yes, yes.....pretty please....
Okay, let's make a very quick stop over in Armenia !

The roots of the Armenian Church go back to the first century.
Did you know that according to tradition, the Armenian Church was founded by two of Jesus' twelve apostles -- Thaddaeus and Bartholomew -- who preached Christianity
in Armenia between AD 40-60??

Let's start off by going to see a masterpiece of religious architecture and a major center of learning in the Middle Ages....the Sanahin Monastery.

Moss-covered Sanahin is a fascinatingly detailed church and monastery complex, packed with ancient graves, darkened chapels and medieval gallery schools (study halls where pupils sat on benches on either side of a corridor).

The inner sanctum of the Surp Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) Church, located in the middle of several buildings, is the oldest structure here, dating back to 928, while its adjoining gavit or entrance hall is one of the later buildings, built in 1211.

A library was created at Sanahin in 1062, and a medical school flourished in the 12th century. As you walk through the passages you can just imagine the calligraphers hard at work........

Next stop......Haghpat Monastery, another medieval Armenian monastery complex.

The monastery was founded by Saint Nishan (Sourb Nshan) in the 10th century during the reign of King Abas I.The monastery at Sanahin was built around the same time.

The location of Haghpat Monastery was chosen so that it overlooks the Debed River in northern Armenia's Lori region. It was built, not on a peak, but halfway up a hillside on a site chosen to afford protection and concealment from prying eyes and also in response to a kind of monastic humility. It is built on a verdant promontory located in the middle of a mountain cirque, which is often wreathed in clouds.

The largest church in the complex, the Cathedral of St. Nishan, was built from 967-991. It is a typical example of tenth century Armenian architecture, its central dome rests on the four imposing pillars of the lateral walls. The outside walls are dotted with triangular recesses.

There are several other structures at the site as well and a number of splendid khachkars (cross-stones) of the 11th-13th centuries standing on the territory of the monastery.

The monastery has been damaged many times. Sometime around 1130, an earthquake destroyed parts of Haghpat Monastery and it was not restored until fifty years later. It also suffered numerous attacks by armed forces in the many centuries of its existence and from a major earthquake in 1988. Nevertheless, much of the complex is still intact and stands today without substantial alterations.

Sita says that the monasteries at Haghpat and Sanahin were chosen as UNESCO World Heritage Sites because the two monastic complexes represent the highest flowering of Armenian religious architecture, whose unique style developed from a blending of elements of Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture and the traditional vernacular architecture of the Caucasian region. Yes Mam!