“Here’s the best part,” is what Aren Apikyan said as we suddenly lurched, suspended mid-air. Tummy somersaulting, we swung backwards and forwards 320m above a yawning valley sprinkled with villages intertwined in a sinuous network of tracks.
Surrounded by a panorama of snow-capped peaks of the Karabakh mountain range, no wonder it’s called the Wings of Tatev.
At 5 752m long, it features in the Guinness World Records as the world’s longest non-stop reversible aerial tramway. Carrying 25 passengers in one cabin, it passes three towers, the highest at 60m, the one we had just bumped over.
Located in the former Soviet republic, Armenia straddles Asia and Europe. It has closed borders with neighbouring Turkey to the west and Azerbaijan to the east, and open borders of Georgia to the north and Iran to the south.
However, it’s not the Wings of Tatev that is this compact, land-locked country’s claim to fame. Armenia was the first country in the world to declare Christianity its official religion, more than 1 700 years ago; now, despite thousands of years of earthquakes, renovation and architectural tinkering, it’s the place to explore the rich legacy of ancient churches and monasteries. But you don’t have to be religious to enjoy them.
The general layout and design of these buildings is almost always universal, but it’s their position that takes the breath away. Double-storey, constructed in dark stone or light, concealed in a forest or perched on a cliff or dry canyon, some with conical roofs inspired by Mount Ararat; each one has its own hallmark.
Some are challenging to reach, Tatev among them. Located in Armenia’s most beautiful region, Vayots Dzor (Gorge of Woes) in the south, along a vital highway linking the country’s capital of Yerevan, to the Iranian border. The area has a history of ruinous earthquakes.
With hiking guide Hayk Melkonyan pointing to the corner of the valley, we wondered whether an earthquake was behind the legend of Satan’s Bridge. Located on the road, it’s halfway between the cable car and Tatev village.
Hayk told the story about a young shepherd and a pretty girl. They lived on either side of the Vorotan River Gorge, and saw each other every morning. Eventually, the shepherd fell in love with the girl and wanted to tell her, but he could not reach her because the raging river divided them. So, he prayed to God, asking for his help in meeting the girl, but God didn’t listen.
Then the shepherd asked Satan for help, promising to give his soul in return. Satan listened, connected two rocks over the raging river so the shepherd could run across the “bridge”.
However, he could not be with the girl because Satan took his soul. The girl and the shepherd never met. Since that time, the local people refer to the rocks as Satan’s Bridge.
The story in the guidebook is not nearly as romantic. Legend goes that centuries ago, villagers fleeing a rebel army were blocked by the river. Before the invaders attacked, the people were saved when a bridge was magically created by a massive falling rock.
In good weather it’s a great place to swim, beneath the boulder, walking from one rock pool to another, scrambling into caves in between. But not today. May is when Armenia receives most of its rain, but it’s also the time when the countryside is carpeted with flowers.
And while thunder, lightning and hail stayed away, threatening nimbus clouds pregnant with rain hung low overhead. For this reason hiking was off the schedule, anyway it’s more fun to get to Tatev Monastery by cable car.
That morning, the hostel owner in nearby Goris described the Wings of Tatev opening as an auspicious occasion. Held on October 16, 2010, it was attended by the presidents of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, the head Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, children from local villages and musicians from Yerevan. Like today, it was cloudy on top and, to make it worse, the cable car stopped midway with passengers suspended for an hour.
Wings of Tatev project manager Aren Apikyan said this private public partnership was built to develop tourism in the region. The plan is to link isolated mountain villages to the main highway 23km away and also to restore Tatev Monastery.
In the past, few tourists visited the monastery because it took long to get there. It would have taken days to reach the isolated villages along what was a dirt road. Now it takes 12 minutes by cable car.
Among these villages is Kashuni, the smallest in Armenia with only six inhabitants. It wasn’t always so small. A statue in the village square commemorates 20 people who died in World War II. Prior to this, the population was 50, today there is only one young man and five elderly people. The man is a shepherd, and single. Aren said it’s unlikely that the village will survive because young women in the area aren’t interested in getting hitched to a shepherd.
Drawing closer to the mountain, the cable car docked at the jaw-droppingly beautiful fairy-tale monastery.
Located in a bend of the Vorotan Canyon, it’s built on a natural rock fortress, a confection of arches, chapels, intricate carvings and rock-hewn portraits. The best time to visit is early morning, when eagles sore on thermals.
At its peak, about 600 monks lived and worked here. In 1931 it was practically destroyed by an earthquake, rebuilt in the 1940s, again in 1980, but the renovation is bad and it is the reason why it has not achieved Unesco World Heritage status. Outside the main gate there’s an oil-press exhibit, an excellent display of seeds, tools and ancient machinery used in the process of oil extraction.
But it was the sound of angels that drew us to the main church of Surp Poghos-Petros (St Paul and St Peter).
A village choir, dressed in blue, their heads covered in white lacy shawls, sang from hymn books. Outside, gathered beneath a tree in the courtyard were children with daisies in their hair.
Tempted to take one of many hikes, instead I returned by the cable car. This was a good plan as it started to rain.
Vayots Dzor is also known for its wine. That was our next plan. Armenia is like an open-air museum, both in terms of the nature and the treasury of art. There is a wide choice of restaurants, hotels and bars – and although the outlying areas have infrequent public transport, it’s easy to make day trips from Yerevan or take a tour.