7 Hour trip to the treasures of armenia's ararat

interior of Geghard Monastery

Geghard Monastery

Armenian sweets

Garni Temple

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Highlights

Visit the Garni Temple to understand its history.

Drive to the UNESCO World Heritage Site- Geghard monastery

Visit the monastery of Khor Vilap

Garni, Geghard, Khor Virap, Yerevan

architectural, cultural, historical

Private Tour

7 Hours

Easy

English, Russian

Description

Discover an essential part of Armenia's history with a visit to the Khor Virap Monastery. It is quite difficult to not include Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery on your list whilst travelling in Armenia! Learn the Pagan history of Armenia and understand the spread of Christianity in the country in this 7-hour tour to Khor Virap from Yerevan.

Itinerary

Tour Khor Virap Monastery, Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery
- Travel to The Khor Virap Monastery located about an hour’s drive away from the capital Yerevan and offers an amazing view of Armenia’s defining symbol – the majestic Ararat. “Khor Virap” translates as “deep dungeon”, and was built of the place of the former royal prison, located on the historical site of Artashat. It was this very prison in which they kept Gregory the Illuminator, the first Armenian Catholicos, for a whole 13 years.
- See how our fantastic tour will introduce you to the exotic Pagan history of Armenia, and show the later development and spread of Christianity in the country. Garni Temple (77 A.D.) – our first stop – is the only standing heathen temple in the whole post-Soviet area. The temple gracefully stands on a high plateau overlooking the Azat river gorge. It is also home to the Roman bathhouse with the mysterious mosaic, made out of 30,000 pieces of natural stones, as well as the ruins of the royal palace, dating back to 3rd century A.D.
- Continue to The monastic complex of Geghard, another historical site included in this tour. Approximately translated into English as “Monastery of the Holy Lance”, it refers to the lance with which Longinus pierced Jesus still hanging on the cross, later brought to Armenia and kept in the Geghard monastery for 5 centuries. The complex is a representation of 13th century Armenia, which is considered to be the Golden Age of the country’s architecture. However, the most astonishing part is the virtue of the architect, who cut the church right into the solid rock whilst considering all the rules of Armenian architecture.

What's Included

Comfortable vehicles with air conditioning (1-3 pax – sedan, 4-7 pax – minivan, 8-19 pax – minibus)

All entrance tickets included

Pick-up and drop-off at your hotel

Bottled water provided

Free Wi-Fi on board

Free cancellation up to 24 hours prior to the tour

What's Excluded

Air tickets

Accommodation

Lunch

Know Before You Go

Private Tour to Khor Virap Monastery, Garni Temple, Geghard Monastery

Discover a big part of the history of Armenia by visiting the Monastery of Khor Virap from Yerevan. It is quite difficult not to include Garni and Geghard in your list whilst travelling in Armenia. This fantastic tour will introduce you to the Pagan history of Armenia, and show the later spread of Christianity in the country.