Day 01
Garni, Geghard, Symphony of Stones and Khor Virap
- Discover some of the most important landmarks in Armenia on this private tour from Yerevan, including the Arch of Eghishe Charents. Learn all about Armenian history and culture as you visit Garni, the only pagan temple in the country, and the distinctive rock-carved Geghard Monastery.
- Visit the province of Kotayk, not far from the village of Garni, to see one of the most well-known and beautiful natural monuments of Armenia - the Symphony of Stones. It is said that this natural monument is the result of the collapse of volcanic rocks. The monument consists of massive, paradoxically symmetric hexagonal and pentagonal basalt columns, nearly 50 meters high. These stones, hanging against gravity, resemble an organ, which explains why it is also called the "Basalt Organ Pipes".
- Khor Virap is a monastery in the province of Ararat and one of the most culturally and historically significant monuments in Armenia. Khor Virap means "deep pit" in Armenian. This is where Saint Gregory the Illuminator ("Surb Grigor Lusavorich" in Armenian) was imprisoned for 13 years, living in this bottomless pit. In a way, this can be seen as a monument to the birth of Armenian Christianity. It can also be seen as the starting place of Christianity altogether, as Armenia was the first country to adopt it as an official religion, due to the work of Saint Gregory.
