Armenia attracts not only by its ancient history, but also with its picturesque landscapes and mysterious buildings. “Sputnik Armenia” introduces the top 10 sights of the country that attract the tourists most of all.
Armenia is interesting for the tourists not only by the capital Yerevan, which is older than Rome, the national dishes, tasty and quality water. The first country in the world that has accepted Christianity on the state level, mostly amazes with its unusual, in some cases even mysterious sights.
“Sputnik Armenia” presents top-10 most attractive places for tourists in Armenia from which one may lose his head. You may lose your speech here, feel the unbelievable energy and enjoy the picturesque landmarks.
Tatev Wings
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For the extreme adventures’ fans, the longest ropeway “Tatev wings” is just a precious finding. Situated in 4-5 hours’ ride from the capital, Tatev attracts the foreigners like a magnet. One may feel an unbelievable flow of energy from the very first minutes of the ride on the reversible cable car. It is spread over the Vorotan river canyon from the village Alidzor, its length is 5752 meters, the height is 320 meters.
The old monastery complex is also situated here- one of the biggest monastery complexes in the country. It is surrounded by marvelous forests. The air distance to the monastery takes 12 minutes, while the way over the abrupt serpentine of the Vorotan canyon takes approximately 40 minutes. The ropeway cabins may hold 30 passengers and there’s no conductor.
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Matenadaran
To visit Yerevan without going to the biggest storage of the ancient manuscripts, “Matenadaran”, would mean not to get to know the wisdom of the Armenian nation. It was founded at the beginning of the 20th century on the base of the Echmiadzin monastery collection that goes back to the 5th century. Many foreigners are surprised at so many ancient knowledge, collected in Yerevan. More that 17 thousand of ancient manuscripts and more that 100 thousand of ancient archieve documents are preserved in Matenadaran funds. Texts in different languages may be found among them- beginning from Hebrew to the Greek and Syrian.
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Garni
The only pre-Christian temple in Armenia- the pagan complex Garni also impresses many people. It goes back to the 1st century and is built in the Greek-Roman style with a beautiful mosaic.
Not far away, in Azat canyon there’s a famous natural monument “Symphony of stones”.
Many basalt pillars remind of the organ’s pipes. They are hanging over the ground in the 5o meters height. They are considered to have a volcanic origin. The view of the symphony just fascinates everyone.
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Sevan
Coming to Armenia, the very first place the foreigners visit is Sevan. It can’t bore you, it always looks differently, depending on the season and the weather. The foreigners are also attracted by the tastiest fish-ishkhan (Sevan trout) that may be tasted in any condition- baked, boiled, marinated.
The Lake Sevan is the biggest among the alpine and the most high mountainous among the biggest limnetic lakes in the territory of CIS. The surroundings of the lake are picturesque, the air is fresh and clean. In summer Sevan saves the inhabitants and guests of Armenia from the intolerable heat. In winter one should go to the lake for the amazing scenery.
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Karahunj
The oldest observatory Karahunj reminds of the famous Stonehenge. Usually people come here for the mysterious feelings. The local Armenians gather here at the day of the autumn equinox to enjoy the sunset. The building consists of more than 200 basalt stones, each of which weights 8 tons. The stones with holes through with the diameter 4-5 centimeters may be found here.
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Areni
Armenia is famous for its winemaking too and the village Areni is the point of attraction from that point of view to all the drink fans.
A very significant event for the whole “wine” world took place in 2007- an ancient winery was discovered in the Armenian Areni, proving that exactly Armenia may be considered the home of wine production.
At the excavation in Areni cave -complex, several cultural layers were discovered, the most ancient of which goes back to the 4-5 centuries B.C.. Jugs with grape seeds and remnants of bunches were also found, that is to say that the oldest winery complex in the region had been situated here. It is more that 6 thousand years old.
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Shikahox reserve
The Shikahox reserve fascinates the foreigners not only with its beauty, but also its scale. It is the second biggest forest reserve in Armenia with the total area of 29 thousand hectares. It is compared to heaven.
One may see rare plants and animals in the reserve, including those that have been included in the Red book. In fact, the reserve has been founded with the purpose of the protection of those species in far 50s of the 20th century. It is situated in 300 kilometers from Yerevan, in 2 thousand meters’ height over the sea.
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Khndzoresk
The hostirical-cultural preserve ‘Khndzoresk” that is situated in the Syunik district of Armenia, attracts everyone who has ever visited it. The time literally stops here. The nature, the cave city, cut off from the civilization, inspire thousands of people.
The city, broken in caves, is covered with many mysteries. By one of the versions, the surrounding was called like that because of its location in the canyon Khor Dzor (Deep canyon). According to another version, Khndzoresk (“khndzor”-an apple) received its name because of a big number of apple trees.Khndzoresk is one of the few places in Armenie where the outer enemies have never gained a victory.
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Geghard
There are two Geghards in Armenia: one is the monastery of 4th century Geghard (the full name is Geghardavank-the “Tample of the spear”). It is included in the UNIESCO world cultural heritage list for its exceptional preservation of the Armenian medieval monastery complex and the rich collection of khachkars.
The second is the Holy Lance. The holy spear had been brought to Armeni in the 1st century B.C. by one of the 12 Disciples of Christ- Jude the Apostle. For many centuries it has been preserved in Ayrivank (Geghard monastery) and only in 1760 it was transferred to Echmiadzin.
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Petroglyphs
Armenia is unique not only for its exceptional landscapes, flora and fauna, but also for its enigmatic petroglyphs. Many scientists, antiquity lovers come to Armenia to solve the meaning of these old paintings, carved on stones and rocks. Famous historians claim that they are the proof of the oldest home of birth to the astronomic knowledge. The petroglyphs discovered in Armenia portray scenes of hunting, constellation, mythical heroes, animals. There are also petroglyphs with the images of fantastic animals and people, also images of different cults, such as the cult of the Moon, the Sun, Snake and Dragon.