In this tour you are sure to have a fully packed day with visits to cathedral ruins, the mother church of Armenia, the best location for an ovelook to the Turkish border and the place where the Gregory the Illuminator (the 1st Catholic of Armenia) was tortured for 13 years in a deep pit.
You are going to visit an amazing winery which has been established by Armenians who had fled the Armenian geonocide and have then returned to the country to found this family-owned winery with its unique traditions and ways of wine making.
You will also enjoy great gastronomical moments and will witness a food masterclass by a professional during which they are encouraged to have active participation.
The tour starts with pick-up from your hotel. You start visiting the monastery of Khor Virap that once served as a pre-Christian royal prison, from whereyou will enjoy a gorgeous panorama over the legendary, biblical mountain Ararat that now belongs to Turkey.
After Khor Virap you will continue to Taperakan village where you will discover Tushpa Wine Cellar, a traditional Armenian winery, both family-owned and managed. The winery is named after the historic area of Tushpa, now known as Van, from where the ancestors of modern Armenians originated. You will taste red and white wines and will be toured around the winery.
After Taperakan the tour will continue to Etchmiatsin Cathedral that is the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The city of Vagharshapat where Etchmiadzin cathedral is located is regarded as the "Holy Land" for Armenians and is refered to as "the Armenian Vatican".
After the visit in the cathedral, you will explore the Zvartnots Cathedral ruins, which are a 7th century Armenian ecclesiastical architectural pearl. You will visit the museum of the cathedral, the ruins of a Roman bathhouse and a Christian church and a pre-Christian obelisk with a long cuneiform inscription.