ARMENIA AND GEORGIA TWO - 5 Days

Arrival in Yerevan. Meet at the airport, transfer to the accommodation. Night walk in Yerevan. Dinner at the restaurant.

Our today’s program we start from City tour in Yerevan, wich includes following sightseeing places: Cascade complex, Republic Square, Opera House, Matenadaran. Next step is Ejmiatsin town, here we visit Mother Cathedral, which is the mother church of the Armenian Ahichpostolic Church, located in the city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), Armenia.According to scholars it was the first cathedral built in ancient Armenia, and is considered the oldest cathedral in the world.

On the forth day early morning we will move from Yerevan to Georgia. Our first step is Vardzia Cave City, situated in southern Georgia, excavated from the slopes of the Erusheti Mountain on the left bank of the Kura River, thirty kilometres from Aspindza. The main period of construction was the second half of the twelfth century. The caves stretch along the cliff for some five hundred metres and in up to nineteen tiers. The Church of the Dormition, dating to the 1180s during the golden age of Tamar and Rustaveli, has an important series of wall paintings. The site was largely abandoned after the Ottoman takeover in the sixteenth century.

It is one of the oldest fortresses in Georgia and was functional throughout the Georgian feudal period. It is situated in Southern Georgia, in Meskheti region. The fortress was first build in the 2nd century BC. The church was built in 985, and the present walls build in 1354. As the legend says, Khertvisi was destroyed by Alexander the Great. Now the extended area of Vardzia-Khertvisi has been submitted for future inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

After Khertvisi fortress next step is Rabat Castle. According to the Georgian Chronicles the city was established in the 9th century by Guaram Mampal, son of the King of Tao. From the 13th to the end of 14th centuries it was the capital city of Samtskhe-Saatabago, ruled by the Georgian princely (mtavari) family and a ruling dynasty of the Principality of Samtskhe, the House of Jaqeli.

After our trip we will back to Yerevan.

Garni Geghard is one of the most visiting places of Armenia, Geghard is a medieval monastery, founded in the 4thcentury by Gregory the Illuminator.It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Next step is Garni, it is a Hellenistic temple, founded in 77 AD. During this tour we also visit Stone Symphony.

Vernissage. Transfer to the airport

The Yerevan Vernissage is an open-air exhibition-market functioning on the weekends. It was formed during the 1980s by Armenian artists who started to display their art works in the square next to the Artists Union of Armenia.