{"id":38559,"date":"2026-05-25T03:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T17:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=38559"},"modified":"2026-05-25T03:40:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T17:40:26","slug":"alexandrapol-armenia-%f0%9f%87%a6%f0%9f%87%b2-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=38559","title":{"rendered":"Alexandrapol, Armenia \ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf2 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date: 21st May 2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travelled: 150 kms from Yerevan to Gyumri in Armenia \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visited: \u00a0Zvartnots Temple, the Cathedral of Ejmiatsin and Gyumri \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stayed: Radisson Hotel Gyumri  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After 3 nights in the Armenian capital we\u2019re back on the coach to Zvartnots Temple. Half an hours drive west of Yerevan it\u2019s not far from the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction of Zvartnots Temple or Cathedral (flip a coin) began in 643, under the guidance of\u00a0Catholicos\u00a0Nerses III the Builder. It was dedicated to St. Gregory, the cathedral was built on a location where a meeting between King\u00a0Trdat III\u00a0and\u00a0Gregory the Illuminator\u00a0was said to have taken place. The cause of the structure collapse in the 10th is a matter of conjecture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case we enjoyed wandering the ruins and the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From the temple the views of Ararat and Little Ararat are spectacular<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The who, why and when are all recorded on this message stone from the 6th Century<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Back on the coach once again we drive on to the Cathedral of Ejmiatsin (Etchmiadzin). Etchmiadzin Cathedral\u00a0is the\u00a0mother church\u00a0of the\u00a0Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city\u00a0known\u00a0as Etchmiadzin (Ejmiatsin). Our guide tells the original church was constructed at the turn of the fourth century, it is\u00a0usually considered\u00a0the first\u00a0cathedral built in\u00a0ancient Armenia, and often regarded as the\u00a0oldest cathedral in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pope and Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church have their seat here. The Cathedral grounds are expensive, they include a number of smaller chapels and teaching seminary, restaurants and accomodation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So off we go\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Gate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Delphine with Cathedral and Priests <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A different view of the Cathedral<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pictured above a couple of sneaky photos from inside the Cathedral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our guide tells us the Armenian Apostolic Church features a unique dual-clergy system, divided strictly between\u00a0married parish priests (Kahana<\/em>) and celibate priests\/monks (Apegha<\/em>). While married priests tend to community needs, celibate priests\u2014who take lifelong monastic vows and wear a distinct\u00a0veghar<\/em>\u00a0(cowl)\u2014dedicate themselves to scholarship, teaching, and serving as the church’s bishops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below the tomb of Khoren Muradbekian, then Pope and head of the Armenian Apostolic Church who died suddenly on April 6, 1938. Our guide tells us he was poisoned by his house keeper but Wiki says he was taken by KGB agents from his residence at Holy Etchmiadzin, never be seen again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Holy Archangels Church in the shape of the Popes Hat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Inside is very austere, just an alter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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An open air chapel for services on special days<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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After an excellent lunch at a huge food court where back on the road again, the freeway to Gyumri is excellent. 90 minutes later we roll into \n

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Our digs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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City Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A grand statue of our hero\u2019s in Vardanants Square<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Gyumri was long ruled by the Russians who knew the city as Alexandrapol. As we wander the centre of the city we find it clean, well maintained. Away from the centre many of the Soviet era apartment look unloved awaiting an earthquake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving on we find All Saviours Church across the square. A service is happening so we quietly have a look around and take a photo whilst wondering how long the priest conducting the service can chant without taking a breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All Saviours Church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We\u2019ve enjoyed exploring but it\u2019s time to enjoy a drink and chat about our day. We sit on our drinks watching the locals go about their evening and we stay and enjoy dinner there as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Damn its a bit chilly in this morning, but I don\u2019t care there\u2019s a coffee machine and a toaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael + Pam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Date: 21st May 2026  Travelled: 150 kms from Yerevan to Gyumri in Armenia \u00a0 Visited: \u00a0Zvartnots Temple, the Cathedral of Ejmiatsin and Gyumri \u00a0 Stayed: Radisson Hotel Gyumri   After 3 nights in the Armenian capital we\u2019re back on the coach to Zvartnots Temple. Half an hours drive west of Yerevan it\u2019s not far from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":38595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-armenia-","8":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38559"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38605,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38559\/revisions\/38605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}