Having agreed the previous night to attempt one very long day trip, we wake early to try and visit Tatev and Gandzasar on the same day. Vladimir convinces us that his car is unable to make the trip to Tatev, so we organise with the owner of the hotel where we stay to drive us.
The scenic drive to Tatev is shrouded in a fog which only lifts just before we arrive.
Naturally formed bridge and limestone caves several kilometres from Tatev.
Tatev from a distance.
Tatev up close, the crane remains from Soviet times. Prior to the collapse of the USSR, the church was to have some restoration work performed. A lack of funds led to an abandonment of the project.
After visiting Tatev, we begin the drive to Gandzasar, stopping in Goris along the way to have a look at many cave-dwellings carved into the soft rock skirting the town.
Shortly afterwards, we cross into Nagorno-Karabakh to drive to Gandzasar. We make a quick stop in a cafe where the drunk owner decides to show off his trophy.
Yes, he really is as drunk as he looks, how else would you explain showing a goat’s head to customer’s while they eat?
With only a few minutes of daylight left, we arrive at Gandzasar. The story of its survival in the Nagorno-Karabakh War is interesting. Whether or not the story is complete truth is a different matter.
Given that all capable fighters of the region had left to fight in the war, the only people that remained were the monks. They took up arms, justifying it as protection of holy grounds, and set up lookout points around the monastery. When the Azeri army positioned a Grad on the mountains in order to destroy the monastery, the monks were able to attack them. The story goes that a small number of monks with little weaponry, aided by god (as all these stories go), were able to take on a much larger, better equipped group of Azeri soldiers.
No tour of Gandzasar is complete without showing the unexploded rocket shell which landed and became wedged in the wall surrounding the monastery. While the living quarters were destroyed (and since rebuilt), the church itself suffered very little damage.
In the town of Vank, just before Gandzasar, is a wall, decorated with Azeri license plates, issued in Soviet times and featuring the Cyrillic alphabet.
After the long day, we spend the night in a Stepanakert.
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