Geghard Cave Monastery is one of the most visited attractions in Armenia. It, like the rocky cliffs around the shrine, is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Armenian travel agencies actively carry tourists here. But it’s much cheaper to come to Geghard yourself. So you can spend as much time in the monastery as you want.
And then, you have the opportunity to linger here and explore the beautiful gorge of the Gokht River, a tributary of the Azat. Nearby is a restaurant with excellent cuisine and affordable prices. And a little downstream of the Azat River is the unique Garni Plateau.
But how to get to the wild gorge Geghard and his monastery? We will answer this question in this article. We will also tell you how to usefully spend the day, having chosen an independent one-day excursion to one of the most famous shrines of Armenia.
Why is the monastery so called
The full name of the monastery is Geghardavank. From Armenian, this translates as “spear monastery”. But do not think that the monastery was inhabited by warlike monks, knights like the Templars. Geghard received its name from the spear of the Roman legionnaire Longinus, with whom he pierced the body of the crucified Jesus Christ at Calvary.
The instrument of the Passion of the Lord is revered in the Armenian Church as a relic. The spear of Longinus (according to legend) was brought from Jerusalem by the Apostle Thaddeus himself . For a long time, the relic was kept away from worldly fuss.
But if you are a zealous believer and get out to Geghardavank only to bow to Longin’s spear, we are forced to disappoint you. This item (whether it was an instrument of the Passion or not is not proven) is now stored in the museum of the Etchmiadzin Monastery, where the throne of the Supreme Catholicos of Armenians is also located. This monastery is located in the city of Vagharshalat.
History of Geghard Monastery
According to legend, this place was developed by hermits at the dawn of Christianity in Armenia at the initiative of St. Gregory the Illuminator. But historians date the founding of the monastery to the fourth century.
In one of the caves a spring originates. The inaccessible cliffs and the presence of fresh water at hand attracted monks to the gorge, fleeing from the bustle of the world in the hermitages.
The first hermits dug cells directly in the soft rock. Therefore, the monastery was first called Ayrivank, that is, a “cave monastery”. Later, ground structures appeared. These were temples and outbuildings.
But in the IX and X centuries, the monastery was seriously affected by the Arab raids. Especially destructive was the capture of the monastery by the vice regent of the Arab caliph Nasr in 923. The monastery also suffered from frequent earthquakes.
A huge contribution to the revival of this monastery was made by the military leaders of the Queen of Georgia Tamara, Ivan and Zakara Zakoryans, who at the beginning of the XIII century freed the land from the Seljuks. Their descendants (Hahbakyan and Proshyan) continued to patronize the rock shrine. Therefore, she became their ancestral tomb.
Where is the monastery of Geghard. How to get from Yerevan to this attraction
The cloister is located only 40 kilometers east of the capital of Armenia. If you are planning a one-day self-guided tour, then Geghard can be seen in a complex with the equally famous Garni Temple. Moreover, minibuses from Yerevan go only to this town.
But first you need to get to the bus station. From the central Mashtots Avenue there goes the city minibus No. 51. The fare to the town of Garni costs 250 drams. Minibuses depart every hour.
After 30 minutes you are already there. From Garni to the monastery of Geghard go about eight kilometers. Half way can be done by bus number 284, next to the village of Gokht.
The road is very beautiful, gently sloping, laid along the gorge with a serpentine. For those pedestrians who want to shorten their path, there are trails.
Getting out of the way is hard. You should focus on a large sculpture of a lioness, visible from afar. And immediately after it opens a wonderful panorama of Geghardavank.
What to see in Garni. Temple of Mithras
Arriving in a mountain town, do not immediately rush to the monastery of Geghard. Only one pagan temple has been preserved in Armenia, and it is located in Garni. It is like a piece of antique Greece in the middle of the Caucasus Mountains: columns, portico, high steps ...
The temple dedicated to Mithra was built in the first century AD. His remoteness served him as a good defense, because with the evangelization of Armenia all pagan buildings were destroyed.
The temple is the only thing left of the once formidable stronghold, which Tsar Urartu Trdat the First erected on the impregnable plateau of Garni, the one that founded the city of Erebuni, modern Yerevan. Near the temple of Mithra you can see the ruins of ancient fortress walls, therms, and the palace.
The temple is very skillfully decorated with carvings. It is also worth going down the gorge to the Azat River to see the “musical organ” formed by nature from lava flows. Therefore, the Garni plateau is also called the "symphony of stones."
Mashtots Hayrapet Church
The Temple of Mithras is not the only attraction of the town. Honor a visit and the Christian shrine of Garni. The church was erected on the site of a pagan khachkar - a stone dotted with petroglyphs.
In the 9th century, the Christian ascetic Patriarch Mashtots was buried here, and three centuries later a temple was built over his grave. Its dome and facade, as well as the interior of the tomb, are decorated with elaborate carvings, similar to those that can be seen in the rock monastery Geghard.
A visit to the Garni Museum is paid - AMD 1200 per person. But if you arrive there on the last Saturday of the month, admission will be free. But for a tour in a foreign language you still have to pay two and a half thousand drams.
What to see in Geghardavank. Chapel of St. Gregory the Illuminator
If you are constrained in time, you can not stop at Garni, but immediately take a taxi. A trip by car on the route Yerevan - Geghard Monastery - Yerevan will cost you ten thousand drams (1270 rubles at the exchange rate), which is quite inexpensive if you get four of them there. First of all, you need to stop at the sculpture of a lioness on a sharp bend in the road to take a panoramic picture of the entire monastery.
The oldest monastery building stands apart from it and is quite high above the road. This is the chapel of St. Gregory the Illuminator. It was built around 1175. Around it rise grave cross stones decorated with carvings.
Fragments of medieval frescoes have been preserved in the chapel itself. Having examined them, we go down to the gates of the monastery. Pay attention to the ramparts. Despite the inaccessibility of the monastery, the monks, in order to help the steep relief, erected a further three sides a high wall.
Katogike
Geghardavank consists of both cave structures cut into the rock and ground buildings. The latter include Katogike. This is the main church of the Geghard monastery .
Despite the fact that Longin’s spear is no longer stored there, the temple is still very revered. The planning of the building is based on an equal-armed cross. In the corners of the church two-story chapels are perched. Some of them are connected to the caves by covered passages, which makes the temple, as it were, the heart of the entire monastery complex.
You should pay attention to the gate located on the southern facade. The tympanum is decorated with stone bunches of grapes, pomegranate fruits, human faces, pigeons. Above the gate you can see a bas-relief depicting a lion attacking a bull. This stone-carved scene symbolizes the power of the prince.
Inside the church is decorated ascetically, but impressively. Everywhere you can see khachkars - gift or funerary stones, mottled with skillful carvings. In Katogik, services are held, candles and lamps are burning.
Hawit
For a long time Geghard Monastery was the center of education in Armenia. People were sent here who wanted to not only get away from the bustle of the world, but also to know God. To teach them, on the western side of the Katogike church, a sacristy adjacent to the rock was built at the beginning of the 13th century.
There the novices underwent religious education. The natural lighting of this room is interesting. There are no windows in this sacristy, only in the middle of the ceiling there is a round hole. The stone vault is supported by four columns dividing the room into aisles.
The center of the sacristy is crowned with a dome with “stalactites” - this is the best example of such architectural technology in Armenia. The interior of gavit is no less impressive than the church. Everything is also streaked with carvings, candles are burning. The severe, ascetic, but sublime beauty of this place sets the soul in a special way.
Avazan Church
We do not forget that Geghard is a monastery in the rock, and therefore we will not ignore the cave buildings. After all, the first cells the hermits broke through in the rock. It is believed that the monastery at this place did not arise by chance.
Even in pagan times, people came here to bow to the nymph of a miraculous source. Water has not dried up to this day. Now it is proclaimed a miraculous Christian Church. And if you believe in it, stock up on some capacity and go to the Avazan cave church.
Its name translates as "pond." This is the first temple of the monastery, which was completely carved into the rock in 1240 directly above the source. To get water, you need to defend a long line.
From Avazan you can get to the tomb (Zhamatun) of the Proshyanov family, as well as the second cave church dedicated to Our Lady - Astvatsatsin. These buildings were carved in the second half of the XIII century. In the last temple, frescoes depicting angels have been preserved.
On the territory of the monastery complex there are separately dug zhamatuns in which representatives of princely families (Grigor and Merik, Ruzakan and Papak) rest. It will also be interesting to walk along the enfilade of cave cells, which descend to the church with tall stairs carved directly into the rock.