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Tatev
The Tatev Monastery is a 9th-century Armenian Apostolic located in South-East Armenia, in the area of ancient Armenian Syunik, not far from the city of Goris and 280 km away from Yerevan. The Tatev plateau has been in use since pre-Christian times, hosting a pagan temple. The temple was replaced with a modest church following the Christianization of Armenia in the 4th century. Popular etymology includes a legend telling of an event that is tied to the construction of the main church, where an apprentice secretly climbs to the top of its steeple intending to place a cross of his own design. However, the apprentice is spotted by his master during his descent. Shocked by his discovery, the apprentice loses his foothold and falls into the abyss as he calls upon God to grant him wings, which, in Armenian is “Ta Tev”. The fortified Tatev monastery consists of three churches; Sts. Paul and Peter, St. Gregory the Illuminator and St. Mary, a library, dining hall, belfry, mausoleum as well as other administrative and auxiliary buildings. The monastery is the "best-known site" in Syunik. Wings of Tatev, a cableway from Tatev to Halidzor village was opened in October 2010.It was included in the Guinness World Records as worlds "longest non-stop double track cable car."
CarahungeCarahunge also called Zorats carer is a prehistoric archaeological site near the town of Sisian in the Syunik Provinceof Armenia. Armenian historian Stepanos Orbelian in his book History of Syunic mentioned that in Tsluk region of Armenia, near town Syunic or Sisian was a village Carahunge, which means in Armenian Stone Treasure or Foundational Stones. The name Carahunge is interpreted as deriving from two Armenian words: car meaning stone, and hunge or hoonch meaning sound. Thus the name Carahunge means Speaking Stones. This interpretation is related to the fact that the stones make whistling sounds on a windy day, presumably because of multiple reach-through holes bored under different angles into the stones in prehistoric times.
Areni cave
The Areni Cave is a multicomponent cave site with artifacts dating from the Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age. In Armenia, the Areni Cave complex is also known as "Birds Cave" ("Trchuneri" in Armenian). Located near the town of Areni, which lies close to the Arpa River and the Gnishik River in Armenias central Vayots Dzor Province, the caves are the site at which archaeologists have discovered what is likely the worlds oldest winery, and ancient human brain, the remnants of a 5,000-year-old skirt made of straw, and the worlds oldest leather shoe.
NoravankNoravank literally "new monastery" is a 13th-century Armenian monastery, located 122 km from Yerevan in a narrow gorge made by the Amaghu River, near the town of Yeghegnadzor, Armenia. The gorge is known for its tall, sheer, brick-red cliffs, directly across from the monastery. The monastery is best known for its two-storey Surb Astvatsatsin church, which grants access to the second floor by way of a narrow stone-made staircase jutting out from the face of building. The monastery is sometimes called Noravank at Amaghu, with Amaghu being the name of a small and nowadays abandoned village above the canyon, in order to distinguish it from Bgheno-Noravank, near Goris. In the 13th–14th centuries the monastery became a residence of Syuniks bishops and, consequently. a major religious and, later, cultural center of Armenia closely connected with many of the local seats of learning, especially with Gladzors famed university and library.
Areni wineryThe Areni winery is a 6100-year-old winery that was discovered in 2007 in the Areni cave complex in the village of Areni in the Vayots Dzor province of Armenia by a team of Armenian and Irish archaeologists. The winery consists of fermentation vats, a wine press, storage jars, pottery sherds, and is believed to be at least a thousand years older than the winery unearthed in Judea and Samaria in 1963, which is the second oldest currently known.
| Start | 08:00 |
|---|---|
| Destination | Areni cave, Noravank, Tatev monastery, Carahunge (Zorats qarer), Areni winery |
| Duration | 14-15 hrs |
* The unused portions of the itinerary are not refundable.
