South Armenia Winter Tour, Part1: Yerevan to Noravank Monastery

Armenia South Winter Tour, Part1: Yerevan to Noravank tour will be a 120+ Km drive from Yerevan with a brief stop at Yeraskh to Noravank. Three countries are within a few hundred meters away at the Yeraskh Roundabout at 39.741417, 44.828920 with Turkey due West & Azerbaijan due South.

E117 Highway is protected by embankment on Azerbaijan side. As per the tour guide, this is to protect Armenian motorists from Azerbaijan snipers during the Nagorno-Karabakh War which was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place in the late 1980s to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Noravank Monastery - Surrounded by brick red cliffs, and the famous church on top of a church design, Noravank is one of Armenia's most popular attractions. Access to the second story church is by rock steps jutting out of the facade. There are many intricate carvings on the churches and in the khachkars on the grounds.

Noravank was founded in 1205 by Bishop Hovhannes, a former abbot of Vahanavank near the present-day city of Kapan in Syunik. The monastic complex includes the church of S. Karapet, S. Grigor chapel with a vaulted hall, and the church of S. Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God). Ruins of various civil buildings and khachkars are found both inside and outside of the compound walls

Note: A khachkar, also known as an Armenian cross-stone is a carved, memorial steele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, interlaces, and botanical motifs. Khachkars are characteristic of Medieval Christian Armenian art.

Source: WIKI

H8 & E117 Highways condition are from Fair to Poor with the Philippine Road conditions as basis.

Disclaimer is included in the video.



Enjoy & have a safe trip!!!

Soundtrack by Josh Woodward:
Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/

• Evolution
• Methylchloroisothiazolinone
• Revolution Now
• Symmetry and the Pocket of Angels
• The Pawnbroker’s Stepdaughter
• Flypaper
• Inertia
• Shadows in the Moonlight
• Spirit World
• Stars Collide