excursion to Garni and Geghard - Caucasian summer 2024 - 14

TravelogueArmenia

1 Mar

29.07.2024 - excursion to Garni and Geghard

It's not raining today, so I set off for the Cascades [↗] at 6:15am. Only a few people are on the streets this early. A few tourists who have the same idea or are just taking advantage of the cooler temperatures, a guy jogging up and down the stairs of the Cascades, and some guards who seem to be on duty all day and night.

Today we go for an excursion towards Garni to visit a Greek-style temple, walk through a gorge, and finally drive to the monastery in Geghard. Shortly after leaving Yerevan, we stop to take a look at Mount Ararat [↗]. Hopefully, we'll be able to see it as clearly tomorrow when we'll be much closer.

We arrive at the temple [↗] at 10:15am. Obviously, there are hordes of tourists at this time of day. The fact that a school class has just arrived doesn't make it any better. The ruins of the palace (destroyed in the 7th century) and the rebuilt temple are the tourist hotspots in the Yerevan area. So, if you want to visit them it might be much better to do this in the late afternoon. At this time of day, it is at best a visit to tick off the place on your to-do list.

The walk down to the so-called Symphony of Stones [↗] starts right at the entrance to the temple. However, there is also the option of hiring a car to take you down and back up again. The walk should take about 90 minutes, but we only need 60 as the rest of our group is in a good walking mood. The path down is a bit slippery, but with good shoes, it's not a problem. The way up leads along the road that the cars also take.

Down in the gorge, you will find fantastic and well-preserved basalt columns. This place here is the opposite of the temple: The people around don’t disturb the view and this visit alone is worth the trip to Garni.

But we're not finished yet. As it's still too early for lunch, we drive to Geghard Monastery [↗]. It's only 15 minutes away by car.

Unfortunately, this church is also covered in scaffolding, like some of the other churches before it. However, the church is only the smaller part that is visible from the outside. Other parts are built into the rocks behind.

It’s the most visited church in Armenia, but there are still no large tourist buses in the parking lot. Are they all on their lunch break? But it is anything but empty. There are many cars with local license plates.

The monastery, first hit by the Turks and finally abandoned during the Russian occupation, is very interesting to explore, with many additional rooms and caves. Photographing is difficult as it’s quite dark and using tripods in the small and often crowded rooms is not an option. I didn't take mine with me during the daytime at all. One of the caves has a sensational acoustic as a singing woman demonstrates.

This is probably the most impressive church or monastery so far.

Back in Garni, we have lunch and afterwards drive back to Yerevan. As we've already been at the Genocide Monument yesterday, we make a stop at the Blue Mosque where I had already been on Saturday.

Back at the hotel, I do some homework (sorting pictures, writing on this travelogue). At 8pm I’m ready to leave for some blue hour photography. This time it’s not raining, so let’s go.

To make a long story short: It wasn't really worth it. The opera house, that was my first destination, was barely lit up and they had kids driving around in electric cars in front of it. I followed the pedestrian zone down to Republic Square [↗]. But again, lots of people but hardly any illuminated buildings (apart from the open stores of course). At Republic Square, I finally take some shots, but even I’m in time for the light and water show, I leave early because it’s so crowded that there is next to no chance to set up a tripod. My final attempt was the Cascades, but even though they are lit up, there is no chance to get a clean shot because there are so many people standing and walking on the different levels.