I know it’s Thursday and i am just trying to finish off Tuesday for you, but that’s how the cookie crumbles. I had a brief chat with Tour Leader Dario on the topic of writing a blog and he volunteered that it’s almost impossible on this trip because it’s too busy and there are no rest days on which you can play catch up!
So, i have sneaked away from the Georgian National Museum an hour ahead of the rest of the gang. Shame because it was fascinating. Blog not going to get any easier of course – we have spent today in and around Tbilisi and covered an immense amount of ground…..
If you have a quick look at the map you can remind yourself that by the time i fell asleep last night i had taken you about two thirds of the way along our journey from Goris to Dilijan, as far as the Selim Caravanserai… Next stop Lake Sevan and the very impressive Savanavank Monastery….
Lake Savan is one of the world’s largest high altitude lakes at 6,200 feet, although it’s not quite as big as it was because Stalin decided to divert some of the water for irrigation and hydro-electric and so reduced the surface level by 66 feet and its water volume by 40%! In fact, the Savanavank Monastery was originally on an island in Lake Savan, but thanks to Josef it now stands on a peninsular.
This was our first view of Lake Savan as we drove down the valley out of the mountains. Given we were enjoying wonderful weather the lake looks the colour of the Caribbean!
The Savanavank Monastery was founded in 874 by Princess Mariam the daughter of Ashot 1st (who became a king a decade later). At the time, Armenia was still struggling to free itself from Arab rule. cThe complex consists of two churches and ancilliary buildings. Here is a shot of the two churches: St. Arakelots [Holy Apostles] on the left and St. Astvatsatsin [Holy Mother of God] on the right.
The ruins in the middle are mainly monks’ quarters, dining, kitchen and so forth….
Here are some pics of St. Arakelots:
Even allowing for the fact that the whole complex was extensively renovated in 1956/57 the power and intensity of the colour of the images is remarkable. If you want to have a closer look at any of these pics then depending on the device and operating system you are using you may be able to view a full screen image with a single click.
There was a baby and a small child being baptised in the St. Astvatsatsin church when i was there and not wanting to be too intrusive i was only able to get a single shot of the admittedly more modest interior of the church. That’s the first one in the collage below. The others are shots from around the complex, including the ruins of the monks’ quarters, dinning room, kitchen and so forth.
[Almost] Lastly, here are a couple of pics of Lake Savan taken from the Savanavank Monastery complex and a third which i thought summed up quite nicely the relationship between God and Mammon which has prospered nicely here, especially since Josef Stalin lowered the surface level of the lake!!!:
We just had a short drive then from Savanavank to our digs in Dilijan which were a little old fashioned but very comfortable…. here is a pic taken from my balcony. I was told that the pointy looking white edifice to the left of the picture is a Soviet era monument marking victory in WW2. Given it looks fairly elegant, i was a bit sceptical – most of the Soviet era monuments we see are clunky and monumental….
Tomorrow we leave Armenia [unscathed by the fighting] and cross the border into Georgia: inevitably of course, there is another Monastery to see before we leave the country!
Tony's Geriatric Adventures 