The wings of Tatev

An indescribably beautiful trip to the Tatev Monastery. Far away from Yerevan, 15 hours on the road, but it was more than worth it!

Past Mount Ararat through untouched hills and mountains to the Shaki Falls, which feed a hydroelectric power station.

Afterwards, visiting Zorats Karer or Karahundj. It is also known as the Stonehenge of Armenia. A burial ground with circles of upright standing stones, which were probably used for astronomical calculations. For me, it was an overwhelming experience. Inexplicable vastness and silence, the sense of a long-lost civilization; of knowledge that we do not know and only the wind, which blew powerfully over the fields as it did thousands of years ago.

And then, the highlight: the Tatev Monastery. It stands on a rock plateau high above the Vorotan Gorge. The monastery is dedicated to St. Peter and Paul and housed around 600 monks at its peak in the Middle Ages.

The journey to the monastery with the "wings of tatev", the cable car, was absolutely spectacular. It floats over the Vorotan Gorge for a distance of more than 5km, carrying visitors to the monastery like on wings. In the golden afternoon sun, the monastery radiates a fascinating tranquility and grandeur.

In the church, there was a priest who listened to the concerns of the (Orthodox!) believers and then blessed them. He did it with so much warmth and dedication that I could only marvel at how he managed it with the endless queues of people clamoring for his attention.