Wait--are we in Utah?

The road west from Tatev monastery at this time of year brings the American west to mind. Mostly browned over and treeless, very rocky soils and hills seem endless. You climb up to the Vorotan Pass, once a stop on the Silk Road but now only a monument to those days. Then down to more of the same. Sheep with their shepherds (complete with a crook) and dogs and cattle herds with men on horses may be seen in the fields. This is potato harvest time as well, so we saw big white bags stacked in the harvested fields waiting for pick up.

Those of us who are old enough might be forgiven for hearing the theme to Bonanza and thinking we have seen this mountain before in other movies involving stagecoaches or cattle drives.This is especially true on the road to Noravank, which translates either as "New Monastery" or "Monastery of Fire," depending on which story you buy. One story has to do with a replacement building centuries ago. The other has to do with another Mongol invasion story in which the invaders saved the site because of the beauty of the fiery red canyon walls.

Leaving the main road and turning southwest, you enter a deep canyon when the sun appears ahead in the break between the walls. It is a very dramatic introduction to a beautiful monastery site. Along the way we passed a birding and bat site in the canyon with its own set of aficionados.

Wood door details

Door detail in form of khachkar

Noravank is younger in age than Hayrivank or Tatev and it was blessed with the presence of a stone artist now named "Momic" who created beautiful art out of stone there. Two church-like structures have been rehabilitated and one roof was replaced through the generosity of a Canadian-Armenian family. Once again we see khachkars in the walls and on the grounds. The central domes of both churches are full of carvings and brilliant stone construction work. In one, a priest is chanting and candles are being lit.

In some ways Noravank seems more remote than Tatev even though we can easily drive to it. There is no wall around the compound now and it is surrounded not with arable land and orchards but with steep and firey rock canyons. How the monks ever found this spot is a mystery. How they maintained themselves there is an even bigger mystery.

Wedding car with flowers and pink tulle

But its proximity to Yerevan means that Noravank gets many visitors, in fact busloads of them. The day we were there a bridal party we had passed on the road (procession of several cars with flowers and tulle decorations) arrived for a blessing from the priest. This is also a site where weddings take place, visitors or no. 

And that day the place was crawling with young teens with all the ebullience of spring lambs. They were climbing on anything climbable and thoroughly enjoying themselves. 

We were taken  aback because so far we had been alone at Hayrivank and among a few at Tatev. This felt like DisneyWorld by comparison. It brought to mind the likely eventual need to restrict access to at least some parts of these historic sites to ensure their conservation. Right now there is no entry fee to the monasteries. Donations are always welcome and there is inevitably something to buy, if only candles.

As beautiful as I found Tatev, especially for its isolation, I have to admit that Noravank is even more beautiful architecturally. That leaves our 4th and final monastery for this trip, Khor Virap.

View from the winery

The road to Khor Virap goes through a region of vineyards and wine production, centered in the town of Areni. On the day of our visit the Areni Wine Festival was in full bloom and the president of the republic was there to open every tasting stall. 

This looked like the Michigan vs. Michigan  State football game in early October, with cars out on the road miles from the event site. In other words, we could not get close to the action. Happily for us the Areni Wine company has a tasting room and sample cellars right on the road. We stopped there to taste their wines before going on to Khor Virap.

Our sommelier

Tasting the dry reds

In Armenia, there is generally a preference for semi-sweet wines, but dry red and white wines are also made. We chose a special collection dry red wine from 2005 for a souvenir before a group of German tourists with a very assertive tour leader literally swooped down on us and completely distracted the poor guy who was trying to give us tastes. We actually liked the taste of the semi-sweet red, but I could not imagine drinking it with hot food--more with cheese and fruit or nuts. The pomegranate wine was regrettably not as tasty as I had hoped--too close to cough syrup for me.

Khor Virap's doves

So off to Khor Virap. Based on our tour book's descriptions we had low expectations. This is the place you go to get close to Mount Ararat, which is only about 12 km away but a world away since it is physically located in what is now Turkey. This is the mountain where Noah's ark landed as the waters of the great flood receded and doves appeared bearing green branches. Not surprisingly, in Yerevan there are many Noah's Ark themed items available. We did not see the promised dove sellers who for a fee will give you a "dove" (homing pigeon) to send off to the mountain. But there was a lovely little fountains bedecked with white carved doves in the courtyard.

It's hard to describe the looming nature of Mt. A. in Yerevan--where the best views are from a pedestrian bridge over a nearby street (clear day required). It is a constant presence and in some ways a needling reminder of the loss Armenians feel as a result of political boundary line-drawing by more powerful nations during the 20th C. Ararat remains snow-capped throughout the year and so looks very picturesque at any time you can see it.

We arrived late in the day thanks to the  modern caravanseri where we had the made-to-order lunch. In fact the gate was closed. But our driver/guide Gor paid the gatekeeper some coins and he let us in. There were still several dozen people up at the site, mostly young teens. The girls were posing in glamor shots with the mountain in the background. The boys were intrigued by the pit in which St. Gregory the Illuminator was held captive for 13 years. The most I could do was take a peek down into it--no way was I getting close to Gregory's experience. Besides a half a dozen boys had already gone down there, impressing each other and the girls who were not posing for each other.

Khor Virap

The courtyard of the compound is lovely,with healthy and well-cared for shrubs and trees. It is surrounded outside by orchards and commercial vineyards that extend for many acres. This is one of those sites where one church is sited east-west and another is north-south, suggesting one was built on a pre-Christian worship site. Imagine the energy there must be in that place. 

Peter and Gor made a little film message in Armenian for Klaus while I walked the ramparts and tried to get a decent photo of Ararat at sunset. It's a small consolation, I know, but the Armenians did get the sunset view of the mountain out of the line-drawing and it is stunning.

Thirty minutes later, it was dark and we were immersed in Yerevan traffic and then quickly back home after two days away. We are still trying to absorb it all.