Armenia

I have visited some of Armenia’s outstanding monuments during this day. The ‘temple’ at Garni is the only Graeco-Roman structure in the whole country and is situated by the side of a spectacular gorge where basalt columns, similar to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, can be seen. Garni has been expertly reconstructed after a recent earthquake, but I was left wondering why anyone would build such a structure so far away from all others of its type in the first century after Christ. The correct materials would be required, the right proportions would need to be engineered, and the building would have to be planned by a skilled architect, who’d seen an existing structure and would therefore know where all the weight-bearing load would have to be placed. There’s also the little matter of lifting heavy stone blocks around twenty feet off the ground.

Geghard Monastery is beautifully located in a gorge and is surrounded by high hills on three sides. There are fairy chimneys on one cliff and the walking opportunities appear to be excellent. The monastery dates from the 4th Century AD. The original church in a cave has never been damaged and worship has taken place there for 17 centuries. In another part, water from a spring in the hills above is channelled along the floor. The most recent church is typical of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The interior is plain, there are no chairs, and on the altar is a depiction of Mary and Jesus, meaning that public masses can be held in this space. If there’s no Mary and Jesus, then the public can’t attend masses.

Armenia’s population is 3 million with a diaspora of 7 million – this makes obtaining visas to western countries difficult as most governments assume any visitor to their country from Armenia will seek to stay beyond their visa’s end date. Only 55% of the old country of Armenia is covered by modern Armenia; the other 45% is in Turkey.

I also visited the statue of Mother Armenia, built during the Soviet era in 1967 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Revolution. Around the base are sundry items of Soviet military hardware, a T-34 tank, a MiG jet, and some Stalin’s organ pipes.

It’s fair to say that Russia sponsors Armenia and provides the country with many export markets. Indeed, a recent agreement between Russia and Armenia seems to deny the latter any opportunity to join the EU.