Armenia, one of the countries of the Caucasus, is the fourth country for journalists to travel to Central Asia. 2019.10.03 At 10:32 Georgian time, the team finally successfully concluded the first leg of Georgia's trip, driving from the RAMADA Hotel in Tbilisi to the border port between Georgia and Armenia under the guidance of George the Great and Small.
Arrived at the border crossing (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
After successfully exiting the customs from Georgia, everyone still had to walk for ten minutes through the buffer belt to enter Armenia with suitcases. The efficiency of entry and exit from Georgia to Armenia is a bit low, taking a full hour and a half to get out of the customs at 11:55 Armenian time.
Customs clearance in progress (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
The tour guide who had been waiting outside the border crossing was an Armenian beauty named Hilda, who had studied in Dalian, China for a year, and while warmly greeting the group members, she and the leader Wang Heng worked together to arrange for everyone to put away their suitcases and board the car. At 12:05 Armenian time, the bus after entering Armenia sped deep, because there was still an hour's drive from the lunch restaurant, everyone was a little hungry, the good thing was that the scenery along the way was not bad, which could alleviate a little bit of hunger and discomfort.
Lakeside Villa (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
At 13:40 Armenian time, the team finally arrived at a beautiful lakeside village, where the surrounding environment is elegant and peaceful, and everyone enjoyed their first late lunch after arriving in Armenia. Afterwards, continue the day's itinerary.
The team's first lunch (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
2019.10.03 At 15:00 Armenian time, after lunch, the group drove more than an hour to the first stop in Armenia to visit the "Hagartsin" Monastery located in the deep mountains and old forests of the resort city of Dilijan. Hagartsin means "eagle dance" in Armenian translated into Chinese.
Eagle Dance Monastery (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
The team got off the bus and circled up the winding mountain road, turned the last bend and stopped, everyone got off the bus and walked a short way down the mountain road under the guidance of Hilda, and saw a tile in the crisp valley, which was the Armenian Eagle Dance Monastery complex built in the 10th and 13th centuries.
A corner inside the monastery (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
This monastery, surrounded by mountains, has long been little known because of its remote location. They are composed of the Church of St. Gregory, the Church of St. Asta Vassin, the Church of St. Stepanos, the Mausoleum of Bagredes and the Refectory, and the guide Hilda said that there are always eagles hovering in the sky, so this monastery group is also known as the "Eagle Dance Monastery".
Photo of the monastery (Photo: Wang Heng)
The surroundings of the monastery's location are simply a hideaway, away from the hustle and bustle, quiet and tree-lined. Stop and look up, in the depths of the mountains, here is full of autumn, the scenery is infinite, and the small scenery taken at will is very delicious.
Surrounding scenery (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
The main ingredients of the Eagle Dance Monastery group are stone, and if you look closely, each boulder here is polished very smoothly and smoothly, and the seams between the boulders are extremely fine, which is breathtaking.
Crucifix tombstone (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
Around the monastery, you can also see some monks' tombstones, and the carved ornaments on the stele are very dense, the most conspicuous is the large cross ornament. Historically, the Eagle Dance Monastery served as a religious seminary and trained many elite talents for Armenia for more than eight hundred years.
Hotel stay (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
2019.10.03 At 16:50 Armenian time, the team ended the visit to the Eagle Dance Monastery and drove to the small town of Dilijan, where they stayed in Armenia on the same day. Located in the northwestern direction of Lake Sevan, it is both a famous spa town in Armenia and a small town to linger in.
A corner of Di Liran Town (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
The small town of Dilijan is not large, but it has many traditional Armenian buildings and mountain forests, making it one of the most important resorts in Armenia. Wandering in the small town feels refreshed and happy, like a paradise.
Photo with a foreign photographer (Photo: Hilda)
Roaming the town of Di Liran, I happened to meet a foreign female photographer who was collecting style here, heard that we were from China, and warmly invited us to take a group photo with us on the streets of Di Li Ran.
Di Liran Street Scene (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
The tour guide Hilda said that Diliran was known by the locals as the "Little Switzerland of Armenia" and attracted many artists to settle here. The Armenian government plans to develop Diliran into a regional financial center, and in 2013 some departments of the central bank were relocated here.
Photo with tour guide Hilda (Photo: Cai Qi)
According to an ancient folklore, Dilijan's name is associated with a shepherd named Dili. There are many attractions here, the more famous ones are the Rotundo Monument, the Amphitheater, the Haghartsin Monastery, the Goshavank Monastery, the Diliran National Park and so on.
Di Liran scenery (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
On 2019.10.03: 21:00 Armenian time, the team stayed at the Diriyan Resort hotel in the small town of Dilijan, Armenia. The hotel is in good condition, the rooms are big and there is a gym and swimming pool. After putting down my bags, I took a dip in the pool, but I didn't dare to swim too long because the water was a little cold.
Scenery of Lake Saifan (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
On 08:30 Armenian time on October 04, 2019, the group departed from the Diriyan Resort hotel where they were staying and started the second day of their trip in Armenia. The first stop is Lake Sevan, the largest alpine lake in the Caucasus, 60 km from Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and is a famous tourist destination.
A corner of the black temple (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
The name of the lake is derived from the Armenian "black temple", because there is an ancient temple built of black materials in the 4th century on the island in the northwest corner of the lake, also known as Gokchay Lake, which is a Turkic name meaning blue water. Lake Sevan covers about 3% of the total land area of Armenia. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, it is 1,905 meters above sea level. The water of the lake flows from the Razdan River through the Arras River and into the sea.
Photo of Lake Sevan (Photo: Cai Qi)
2019.10.04 At 09:50 Armenian time, at the top of Lake Sevan, there is a Sevanavank Monastery built in the 9th century, which means "black monastery", which stands majestically on the top of the peninsula of Lake Sevan, very small, very ancient, with its doors closed.
Close-up view of the temple (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
In the wind and frost of the eleventh century, I don't know how many caravans on the Silk Road have been overlooked, and the name of Lake Sevan also comes from it. The monastery has long been empty, only the various cross stones in the courtyard, recording the glory of the past. It has to be mentioned that the cross stone carved from the local unique greenstone makes the gray-yellow color of the courtyard have a bit of lake charm.
Smokey lake (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
Lake Sevan is 1900 meters above sea level, the deepest point is 86 meters, the area is 1360 square kilometers, the water storage is 585,000 cubic kilometers, is the largest and most beautiful alpine lake in Armenia, overlooking this lake surrounded by snow-caucasus snowy mountains at the top of the mountains, the lake surface is as transparent as the sapphire embedded in the crown, the calm lake surface occupies more than 4.5% of the entire armenian land area, so pure and transparent lake surface makes it have another nickname "Caucasus mirror".
Shengmao Monastery (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
2019.10.04 Armenia 11:30, the team came to the second stop of the tour in Armenia: Geghard Monastery (Geghard) Sengmau Monastery. It boasts extraordinary cave churches and tombs, known as the pinnacle of the Middle Ages, and the main body of the building was carved out of the rock. The roads inside are uneven, the lighting is only by the small windows excavated, the color is single, the quaint is very simple, reflecting the original style, and was selected as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2000.
Walking into the monastery (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
Gegard means "holy spear", referring to the legend that before Jesus went to the cross, when the Roman soldier pierced The chest of Jesus with the spear in his hand, the blood spilled out of his eyes that were originally sick and immediately restored to light, the soldier immediately became a monk, and this spear was also worshipped as the "holy spear" by posterity, and was rumored to be a god.
Close-up view of the monastery building (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
Later, the "Holy Spear" came to Armenia with the apostle Sardis, and this rock monastery was specially built in order to collect holy relics, so it was also called "Holy Spear Monastery". Today, the Sacred Spear is housed in the Echmiazín Cathedral, while the Gegard Monastery is famous for its holy relics and is enshrined as a holy place.
Listen to an a cappella singing (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
The Gegard Monastery is located deep in a valley with cliffs, and is also known as the "Cave Church" because most of its buildings are hewn in the rock. It consists of the main church, the rock church, the prayer hall, the tomb of the prince and a number of cave chambers. The basement structure that deserves special mention is very peculiar, and the reporter and his party listened to several female vocal singers singing praises to God without cappella here, like a natural sound, and people were intoxicated... (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
Source: China Times Chinese