Medieval monasteries, rugged mountains, turbulent history.
Contemporary Armenia is a mountainous 29,800-square-kilometer successor to the Soviet republic of Armenia. Russia won control of eastern Armenia from the Persians and Ottomans in the early 19th century while the “12 lost provinces” in western Armenia remained under the Ottoman Empire. In 1915 this ended in calamity when the Turkish authorities launched a campaign of ethnic cleansing and extermination which wiped out over a million ethnic Armenians in the areas under their control. Today the “Armenian genocide” is commemorated to a striking monument and museum in Yeravan, capital of independent Armenia. To the southwest of Yerevan, the snowcapped twin peaks of conical Mount Ararat in Turkey fill the horizon. Noah’s Arc is said to have come to rest on Mount Ararat. Yerevan is a fascinating city with excellent museums, galleries, theaters, and cafes. The Armenian History Museum on Republic Square and the Opera House on Freedom Square are focal points of the city. Armenia’s biggest attractions are the many medieval Orthodox monasteries hidden away in remote valleys and on the sides of cliffs. Day tours to many of these can be arranged through tour operators in Yerevan at reasonable group rates. The drive east to picturesque Dilijan village takes one past Lake Sevan, the country’s largest. Beyond the quaint town of Goris in the south, a road leads to the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh which local Armenian insurgents took from Azerbaijan in 1994. It’s possible to visit Nagorno-Karabakh with a special visa obtained in Yerevan but do so after going to Azerbaijan as it will preclude you from going there on that passport.
