Adventures in Armavir

On Saturday, I went to the Vernissage with Shannon, one of the PCVs I’ve befriended; she works with one of the Syunik Women’s Resource Centers. I found some pins of Misha, the mascot of the 1980 Olympics (small and packable!), and for myself, a fake “Return to Tiffany” ring. I’m against piracy, but since there is no way one would ever confuse this with an actual Tiffany ring, and since I had (there are no coincidences!) just bought actual Tiffany jewelry for my niece, I thought it would be fun (photo from the Tiffany web site). We then went to lunch, and I started sneezing – and didn’t stop sneezing until yesterday morning. The PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) told me it’s a nasty virus that’s been going around Yerevan for the past couple of months. I’m still coughing, but I feel my strength returning. As it happens, I picked that day to open the window in my room for the first time, so of course my host mother thinks I got sick because I opened the window a couple of weeks too early (well, I did just say there are no coincidences). In Morocco, they also thought you’d get sick when you opened a window, at least in a moving vehicle. Anyway, since I wasn’t sure at the time whether it was a cold or allergies, I kept going. First I went to the Yervand Kochar museum (go to kochar.am to see some of his works; very interesting), and then I went up the steps of the Cascade and sat for a while with Gordon and Jeanne. I thought that by now there would be more clear days, but I guess those Ararat sightings are rare!

Shannon mentioned that she is going to make sure she visits every marz (province) in Armenia before she leaves. Well, this is a quest I could realistically accomplish as well – there are only eleven, and I have already been to seven! I don’t have every weekend from now until the end planned out, but if I hit the sites I am most interested in seeing, I will have visited every marz. Yerevan is its own marz. Syunik I’ve been to twice already. I’ve been to MCA-Armenia works in three nearby marzes, but also to tourist sites – Khor Virap in Ararat marz, Etchmiadzin in Armavir marz, and I’ll tell you in the next post about Aragatsotn marz. Gyumri is in Shirak marz, and Garni and Geghard (and Charentsavan) in Kotayk marz. I had a notion for a while that after visiting all 50 U.S. states I might start visiting the Canadian provinces I haven’t seen yet – turns out I’ll visit Armenian marzes first!

On Sunday, I went with Gordon and Jeanne to more sites in Armavir marz; their host mom (who came along as well) has a friend who is a taxi driver - with three of us splitting the cost, it was an economical, efficient and comfortable way to get around! First, we went to Sardarapat, the site of a decisive battle against the Turks in 1918; the Armenian victory prevented the Turks from going any further into Armenian territory. There’s a big monument, built in 1968 for the 50th anniversary – a tall bell tower flanked by two bulls. There was also a great ethnographic museum, with a little bit of everything. Most interesting were the tools of all of the different trades, and of course I was attracted to the handicrafts!

We then went on to Metsamor Museum (not to be confused with the nuclear power plant of the same name). This is an archeological site; the museum displays some of the objects found in the dig, going as far back as the 3rd century B.C., and also has some big fertility-symbol stones moved from other parts of the country. You could walk around the site, which has some beautiful wildflowers this time of year, including poppies that reminded me of the ones in Azrou. I was able to appreciate it even with my constant sneezing!

Our next stop was to St. Hrepsime in Etchmiadzin, a 6th Century church that, along with the Holy See and St. Gayane, comprises the Etchmiadzin UNESCO World Heritage site. We were so wet the first time we went that we didn’t see it, and the second time we were in a rush to get to the Genocide Memorial. Hrepsime fled Rome for Armenia because she didn’t want to marry the emperor, and then King Trdat wanted to marry her, but she refused him too in order to stay true to Christianity, and she was martyred (St. Gayane helped her escape the first time, if I have my story right). The church is another marvel of Armenian architecture (or another you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all). As we were approaching it, it started to rain – hard! – but it was just a passing shower.

Last on the agenda was the ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral – supposed to be the finest in the world when it was built, destroyed by an earthquake (or possibly invaders) in the 900s. This one is different from the others. It looks more like Roman ruins than the tuff churches, with a circular arrangement, columns that once held up a big dome, and the remains of rooms including the palace of the Catolicos, wine storage and a Roman bath. Another UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was apparently lavishly decorated and much bigger than the other churches built around the same time. It was supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world in its day.