Where Water Flows Free Part 2 - Monastery of the Sacred Spring

Geghard Monastery, Armenia

And the story of Armenia’s free-flowing water fountains continues…

A long, long time ago (and I mean No Kidding LONG …like about 1600 years ago), a man named Grigor (who would later become St Gregory the Illuminator) decided to set up a church near a cave where an ancient water spring was, in the mountains in medieval Armenia. The water still flows today! But the church has been ransacked and destroyed many times by armies and earthquakes. The monastery (Geghard) that stands today, dates back to 1215.

One hot summer day, 803 years later (2018), the Ong family decided to go see the monastery (which has since became a major tourist attraction in Armenia). They explored the caves inside out. The unruly kids of the Ongs ran around the compound unrestrained and unhindered, like what kids are supposed to be. JAYDEN! JUSTIN! STOPPPPP ITTTT! Shhh… you aren’t supposed to shout in a church. Anyway, we took all our empty water bottles and filled them to the brim with holy water from the ancient spring, and that’s what sustained us for the rest of the day, and the next. No, no tummy ache, no bloated feeling, nothing. Thank you God, for the abundant water and for helping us squirrel out of our broken car predicament a couple of days later (which is another story, for another day, ahem).

Actually, we didn’t know about the sacred spring till I started writing this post. We just saw lots of locals carrying empty bottles into the dimly lit church interior and followed them. And Tada! Free flowing holy water! Here’re photos of our adventure!


There, up ahead, nestled between the mountains, lies the Geghard Monastery at the end of the road


Vendors outside the church selling dried fruits and churchkhela (those long candle-like things on skewers). Churchkhela is made from dried fruit and nuts and can be found all over the place, especially in neighbouring Georgia (…coz it’s a traditional Georgian candy). In Armenia, it’s called sujuk


Geghard monastery compound


Geghard Monastery


One of the altars, Geghard Monastery






The interior of the church / cave - there's a mystical feel about these ancient chambers


Hey, let’s climb the stairs …there’re chambers above too – the upper terrace


One of the chamber entrances on the upper terrace


The countryside around Geghard, Armenia


Anu, at a café on the approach to the Geghard Monastery. We kinda borrowed this place for a quick photo op

That’s all for now folks!