Festival time again, it’s Easter!!! Happy Easter to all those celebrating.
I’m putting pictures of the main church in Armenia, for this post.
Entrance arch of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, the mother church of Armenia
Entrance gate and open air altar, Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Vagharshapat, Armenia
We finally visited Armenia proper, in July last year. We’ve bumped into many an Armenian in our journey, …an old Armenian lady, proprietor of the Fairlawn Hotel in Kolkata (Calcutta) when Anu was pregnant with Justin (heck, some of Penang’s and Singapore’s most famous hotels used to be run by Armenians, the E&O in Penang, the Raffles in Singapore for example); an Armenian settlement in Isfahan, Iran, complete with cathedral (yeah, INSIDE the Islamic Republic of Iran); Justin’s Armenian classmate and his family… So, it’s kinda nice to see where Armenia actually is.
We chose the peak of summer, the hottest time of the year, to visit. After all, what fun is snow, and cool weather? We’re from Dubai! We feel at home with 40C, sand and dust (yeah, my foot!) OK, kidding apart, Armenia was experiencing a heat wave that hit huge parts of Eurasia last year. When we arrived, it was 40 degrees C in Yerevan and around! Etchmiadzin was the first place we visited after landing at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport (yup, we started our tour, before even checking into our hotel! We rented a car). And boy, was it hot!
But… one very nice thing that you’d notice in Armenia, especially if you visit churches and monasteries (and you’re bound to do that, since that’s the main thing to see here…), is that there’re free-flowing drinking fountains all over the place! And there’re no levers, toggles or switches to turn them off! They just keep flowing, and flowing, and flowing… like a land of abundant water! Heck, Armenians are surprised when you say you wanna buy a bottle of mineral water (they’re scarce but not unavailable), they just drink from their friggin taps! (In Yerevan, at least).
Jayden and a priest, at an ever-flowing drinking fountain in Etchmiadzin
Another drinking fountain (the eagle-headed structure at the back). The monument in front, is some modernistic Khachkar (cross-stone), a common decorative sculpture in Armenia
Entrance Gate to the compound of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, Vagharshapat, Armenia – the main cathedral can be seen right in front, decked up all over, with scaffolding
Etchmiadzin Cathedral, nothing much in grandeur for a main church, compared for example, to the likes of the primary church of the Roman Catholics (St Peter’s Basilica), or even the primary Georgian church, in Tbilisi
There’s actually nothing much to see at the main church itself, despite it being the ‘oldest cathedral in the world.’ It’s been sacked countless times in history by the Persians (and relics taken to New Julfa, Isfahan incidentally). It was somewhat side-lined during the Communist Soviet era, but has now regained its position as the seat of the supreme head of the Armenian Church. Much of the church was under renovation at the time of our visit. By the way, Armenia in its antiquity, was actually the first nation in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in year 301. (Don’t believe me? Wiki it!)
Lighting candles inside the oldest cathedral in the world, Etchmiadzin Cathedral
The main entrance, lined with tombstones …no, they’re actually Khachkars (cross-stones), commemorative carved stone slabs common in Armenia, with crosses as its main motif
Asdvadzadzin Church in the Etchmiadzin compound (How do I know the name? …Google Maps, man!)
Inside the Asdvadzadzin Church
A building beside the Asdvadzadzin Church
Church of the Holy Archangels (one thing I noticed in Armenia, the churches here are either very old, or ultra-modern, like this one)
Gevorkian Theological Seminary
The manuscript / book repository (library) at Etchmiadzin – Book repositories are really popular in Armenia, for some reason or other…
I’m putting pictures of the main church in Armenia, for this post.
Entrance arch of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, the mother church of Armenia
Entrance gate and open air altar, Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Vagharshapat, Armenia
We finally visited Armenia proper, in July last year. We’ve bumped into many an Armenian in our journey, …an old Armenian lady, proprietor of the Fairlawn Hotel in Kolkata (Calcutta) when Anu was pregnant with Justin (heck, some of Penang’s and Singapore’s most famous hotels used to be run by Armenians, the E&O in Penang, the Raffles in Singapore for example); an Armenian settlement in Isfahan, Iran, complete with cathedral (yeah, INSIDE the Islamic Republic of Iran); Justin’s Armenian classmate and his family… So, it’s kinda nice to see where Armenia actually is.
We chose the peak of summer, the hottest time of the year, to visit. After all, what fun is snow, and cool weather? We’re from Dubai! We feel at home with 40C, sand and dust (yeah, my foot!) OK, kidding apart, Armenia was experiencing a heat wave that hit huge parts of Eurasia last year. When we arrived, it was 40 degrees C in Yerevan and around! Etchmiadzin was the first place we visited after landing at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport (yup, we started our tour, before even checking into our hotel! We rented a car). And boy, was it hot!
But… one very nice thing that you’d notice in Armenia, especially if you visit churches and monasteries (and you’re bound to do that, since that’s the main thing to see here…), is that there’re free-flowing drinking fountains all over the place! And there’re no levers, toggles or switches to turn them off! They just keep flowing, and flowing, and flowing… like a land of abundant water! Heck, Armenians are surprised when you say you wanna buy a bottle of mineral water (they’re scarce but not unavailable), they just drink from their friggin taps! (In Yerevan, at least).
Jayden and a priest, at an ever-flowing drinking fountain in Etchmiadzin
Another drinking fountain (the eagle-headed structure at the back). The monument in front, is some modernistic Khachkar (cross-stone), a common decorative sculpture in Armenia
Entrance Gate to the compound of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, Vagharshapat, Armenia – the main cathedral can be seen right in front, decked up all over, with scaffolding
Etchmiadzin Cathedral, nothing much in grandeur for a main church, compared for example, to the likes of the primary church of the Roman Catholics (St Peter’s Basilica), or even the primary Georgian church, in Tbilisi
There’s actually nothing much to see at the main church itself, despite it being the ‘oldest cathedral in the world.’ It’s been sacked countless times in history by the Persians (and relics taken to New Julfa, Isfahan incidentally). It was somewhat side-lined during the Communist Soviet era, but has now regained its position as the seat of the supreme head of the Armenian Church. Much of the church was under renovation at the time of our visit. By the way, Armenia in its antiquity, was actually the first nation in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in year 301. (Don’t believe me? Wiki it!)
Lighting candles inside the oldest cathedral in the world, Etchmiadzin Cathedral
The main entrance, lined with tombstones …no, they’re actually Khachkars (cross-stones), commemorative carved stone slabs common in Armenia, with crosses as its main motif
Asdvadzadzin Church in the Etchmiadzin compound (How do I know the name? …Google Maps, man!)
Inside the Asdvadzadzin Church
A building beside the Asdvadzadzin Church
Church of the Holy Archangels (one thing I noticed in Armenia, the churches here are either very old, or ultra-modern, like this one)
Gevorkian Theological Seminary
The manuscript / book repository (library) at Etchmiadzin – Book repositories are really popular in Armenia, for some reason or other…
