Buses filed into the parking lot as the day began at Sevanavank monastery. As the sun climbed higher into the sky, more people arrived at the picturesque monastery. Originally built on an island in the 9th century by Princess Mariam, daughter of Ashot I, the monastery consists of two churches: Saint Arakelots and Saint Astvastastin. An inscription about the construction of the church was kept in 874. The monastery is now located on a peninsula due to the draining of lake Sevan during the era of Joseph Stalin, and has increased tourism because of it.
The monastery overlooks Sevan lake, the view incredible from the top of the hill. From the church can also be seen the small shopping area below, where vendors gather to sell goods and food. Climbing up the hill, a strong smell of ‘gata’, a classic Armenian pastry, hits one in the face. The gata from the shop is blooming with flavor, and is the perfect treat to savor while enjoying the view of Sevan. Another tourist attraction at Sevanavank are the unique green khachkars that were made from a special rock near the monastery.
Sprouting off from the side of the church is a maze, sprawled across the grass. Plants made their way into the maze and splashed color into the faded stone of the maze. According to RepatArmenia, the maze was a dormitory for the monks who lived at Sevanavank. It is said that in the 19th century Sevanavank was a place for monks that had sinned, as it was located on an island then. No women or children were allowed on the island, and the monks followed a strict diet without meat or wine. According to AtlasObscura, the monks also had to copy bibles by hand.
Sevanavank is also the setting for a battle between Armenian king Ashot Erkat (meaning Ashot the Iron), also known as Ashot II, and the Arabs. The Armenian troops were greatly outnumbered by the Arabs despite the help of many fishermen and monks. Desperate, Ashot Erkat sought the help of a fisherman. The fisherman told Erkat that the Armenians had the best shot at winning if they attacked in the morning, when the sun was still rising so it would blind the Arabs. Following the fisherman’s advice, the Armenians were able to overcome the Arabs. The Bodies, blood, and the uniforms of the soldiers turned the clear waters of Sevan black. In Armenian, “sev” means black, which is why the lake was given the name Sevan.
In Armenia pedestrians usually get around by foot, by bus, by trolley or by taxi. However, others prefer the subway. I will pause here and let you imagine what the subways in Armenia are like. Now, I have no idea what came to mind, but my first subway experience was quite different than what I expected. Unfortunately, however much either one of us might want to, I can’t ship you to Armenia and bring you to the subways. So I will do what I consider the next best thing, write about it from this cafe I am sitting in (while eating a remarkably good cake…). Enjoy!
I would start by saying it’s a nice day out, but
unfortunately to you everything seems to radiate heat. Well, not only to you.
Everyone is wiping their brows or resting in the shade. The moment you stepped
outside, you regretted it. Minding your own business you continue walking, when
you come across some stairs. Now this isn’t exactly the small narrow staircase
you would be nervous to enter in the middle of the night, this is a wide
staircase that people are casually climbing. Curious by nature, you decide to
take to venture down the stairs. Then you see it. A water fountain! You must
decide between the water and the stairs. There seems to be a long line for the
water so you reluctantly take the stairs. The stairs are made of stone and
there are railings on each side. Your fingers slide along the railing as you
climb down the stairs. Then all of a sudden you pull your hand back, gasping.
You hesitantly touch the railing again, however it is unbelievably hot. The sun
has been beating down on the metal railing all day, you realize. You finally make it down the stairs and immediately sigh
a wistful sigh.
A gust of cold air surrounds you, the weather of your dreams. You must be underground. There are escalators to your left, and a booth to your right. There is a small line in front of the booth so you head over there as well. Someone thanks the person in the booth and walks away with a small neon orange coin in their hand. The person in front of you pulls out a 100 dram coin (0.2 USD) and hands it to the lady in the booth. She then hands him a small neon coin and he walks away. You fish around in your bag for your wallet and pull it out. You hand the lady your money, and she takes it without meeting your eyes. In fact, her eyes are glued to her phone. She almost automatically hands you a small neon coin and turns her attention back to her phone. She must have been sitting there for some time, handing and collecting coins. It must get pretty boring. Someone ahead of you puts their coin in a machine and a light turns green as they walk through. Looking down at your coin you notice its worn out edges and imagine how dirty it must be. You slip it through a slot in the machine and walk through. You approach the escalators. You have to pause and look again, to make sure you are eyes aren’t betraying you. You suddenly fill up with nervous fear.
The escalator descends deep a long way down, the people at
the end remind you of the figurines you used to play with when you were
younger. Okay, I might be slightly exaggerating, but the escalator is still
pretty long and steep. You look down and realize it is moving pretty fast too.
What if you slip and fall? What if you don’t make it on in time and stumble?
Your head starts to fill with many what-ifs, each containing a different
scenario. However, not many of them end well. This is going to be exciting. You
watch the tiles appearing and sliding away. People are casually getting on, not
really caring about how steep the escalator is, or how fast it is moving. You
look down again at the tiles. You’ll take the next one, you think to yourself.
‘The next one’ keeps coming but you are still not on the escalator. Counting to
three, you keep a tile in sight, but it is quickly moving away from you. It’s
okay, you missed one. You’ll catch the next then. You leap onto the first tile
you see and are suddenly being rushed down a steel man-made hill. Grabbing the
elastic railing you look around. Anywhere but down is fine!
There are ads framed in the wall, for your own two-story
house. Wow, that would be a treat. The cities in Yerevan are all packed with
soviet buildings made of crumbling rock and scary elevators that you are pretty
sure don’t even work half the time. It is so tempting to look down. Biting your
lip, you look down. You haven’t even made it halfway down! At this pace you
thought you would have at least made it halfway! Suddenly you realize you have
been holding on to the railing so tight your knuckles have turned white.
Looking around to see if anyone noticed, you sheepishly loosen your grip, but
don’t let go. The air gets cooler as you descend down, but you don’t complain.
You have started to consider taking the subway solely for the cooler air.
Finally, the end is near. The end of the escalator, that is. You jump off a
little to early and end up stumbling onto the floor. You slow your pace, and
look around.
You are in a wide, long, room with subway tracks on either side of you. There are benches back to back in the middle of the room, and pillars separating you from the tracks. A red line is drawn a foot or two away from the tracks. The room is a little dim, but cool. And remarkably clean for a subway station. It seems rather empty as well, for such a big room. People are casually leaning on the pillars, and mothers with children are occupying the benches. Overall it is rather quiet, or so you thought. A low rumbling sound fills the room. At first you think you are imagining it, then it grows louder. The other people either haven’t noticed it yet or don’t care, however you think the latter is the case here. The sound keeps on growing, you start to think if there is an earthquake. The huge room fills with the sound, and you look around, starting to panic. Then you notice the tracks are no longer empty, they have been replaced with an orange – ish white blur, bringing with it yet another gust of cold air. The subway train slows down to a halt and the doors slide open to reveal worn out orange seats. People get out, heading towards the stairs. A message plays on the subway speakers. You don’t pay much attention to it until — What?!? You were about to get on, but the doors close. At least there was a heads up. You will pay more attention to the message in the future. Oh well, guess you’ll have to catch the next one.
