MOUNT ARARAT AND SURROUNDING MONASTERIES

 

August 30 brought us outside of Armenia if only temporarily in both a literal and political sense in a way that can only be understood with an appreciation of the nation’s political climate, both current and historical. And yet, Mount Ararat, the highlight of this day and in many ways this trip, though it towers the landscape from across the border in Turkey, is the truest embodiment of the Armenian spirit than anything I saw on my journey.

That it defies hostile and even contested boundaries, though, is fitting with the visceral power of the mountain. Rising across the Ararat Plain like a snow-capped giant, Ararat has inspired wonder since the beginning of civilization when it was fabled as the resting place of Noah’s Ark. While much of the world has moved away from legend the sheer majesty of Mount Ararat elevates emotions. Its bigger peak, Greater Ararat, has come to inspire Armenia’s resiliency through the centuries while Little Ararat completes the compounded volcano’s unique appearance.

                                                                         Mount Ararat

As our bus was making its way across the plains our guide told us that we were nearing the border with Iran and we would likely see many Iranian license plates. I was reminded of how close this icon of Armenia, which indeed is not in Armenian territory, was to other countries. Despite this realization I was still shocked when the GPS on my phone informed me that we were now in Azerbaijan, a nation now on hostile terms with our host country. I was stunned and a little bit alarmed as we seemed to have crossed the border without detection. However, though this strip has “officially” been conceded to Azerbaijan it remains in all practicality something of a no-man’s land in the ongoing dispute between the two countries.

One look at Mount Ararat, however, and all geopolitical interferences are forgotten. Instead, the mountain emits the pride and strength of Armenia and her people, their tragedy and their triumph. Her current conflict is one that indeed poses an existential threat. However it may end, Mount Ararat will remain as the testament to a tiny country with the courage of an empire.

At the foot of Mount Ararat lies Khor Virap, our first stop that day, the white limestone monastery where Gregory the Illuminator spent thirteen years imprisonment on the orders of King Tiridates III who had become offended by Gregory’s defiance of Pagan beliefs.

Like many local monasteries, Khor Virap became a place of religious studies but underwent much renovation and reconstruction over the centuries and is used as a house of worship to this day, St. George’s chapel sitting above the pit where Gregory the Illuminator was held captive.

                                                                         Khor Virap

Indeed, tributes to Gregory the Illuminator abound in Armenia and our next stop, the 13th-century monastery of Noravank, honors the national hero with the Surb Grigor Chapel built in 1275. Although the grandest structurein the complex is Surb Astvatsatsin Church the standout of Noravank, however, is the array of surviving khachkars housed within its walls.  

                                                           Surb Astvatsatsin in Noravank
                                                                Surb Grigor in Noravank

Our final stop, the monastery of Tatev, dates much further back to the 7th century. But in the year 848, Prince Philipe incorporated the Church of St. Gregory into the complex. This even before the main church, Surb Poghos-Petros, was completed in the year 906. Like many monasteries in Armenia, Tatev is also a tale of renovation, rebuilding and legacy that spans centuries. The late 10th-century saw the decoration of the walls and Surb Astvatsatsin was built in 1087. Throughout the 14th century, Tatev became an intellectual beacon as well as a center of political action against rising Unitarianism.

                                                                               Tatev                   

 Additions continued as late as 1745 when a spring was built by Vardapet Hovhannes with a crypt coming 40 years later. Its library, dating back to the 10th century was still in use up until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1931, an earthquake devastated the monastery, destroying centuries of work. Economic downturns and WWII would delay restoration efforts which did not begin in earnest until the 1960s and took another thirty years to complete. But so is the story of Armenia. Her struggles have been seemingly endless and her very identity as a nation has been challenged. But she picks up and slowly but faithfully rebuilds herself stronger each time.

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