Khachkars
Armenia is a country of stones. When someone asks Armenia which is the richness in their country, in
most cases they will definitely mention the stones. There are many types of stones on this land.
Therefore it is not surprising, that Armenians used their wealth in expressing their belief in God and being the first Christians. This expression is found on Cross Stones (in Armenian Khachkar). Khachkars are carved stones, on which one can usually find a cross. There are thousands of Khachkars in Armenia and no 2 of them are identical.
In the center of Khachkar is usually depicted a cross and is decorated with different Christian symbols or scenes from the bible or pictures of saints.
First Khachkars date back to the 9th century. The oldest known Khachkar was created in 879, found in Garni. It was dedicated to the wife of Armenian King Ashot I Bagratuni - Katranide. The carving of Khachkars reached its peak in 12-14 centuries. The carving of Khachkars was in decline after Mongols invaded Armenia in 14th century. But in the end of the 16th century it revived.
However, the tradition of carving Khachkars has not disappeared fully. Even now in Armenia there are people who are still carving Khachkars. Of course these newly carved Khachkars are not as precious as the old ones but they will gain their values with time.
There are about 40.000 Khachkars today. The most famous ones are the Khachkar in Geghard, 
created...
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Postcards from Armenia
Hey all, we have had an amazing week exploring Armenia from our base towns of Vanazdor in the north and Yeghegnadzor in the south. After taking an overnight train from Georgia (with a much more friendly border crossing) we made a brief stop in Yerevan and then headed up to Vanadzor a rather quaint little city overshadowed by a massive chemical plant which, now abandoned gives the place a rather rust(ic) feel. We stayed with a lovely family who again gave us very large breakfasts and then set out to explore the series of beautiful monasteries in and around the Debed canyon.
The first day we headed to Alaverdi, a lovely mountain town tucked away in a valley by a river...with a copper plant next to it. We caught an aging cable car used by the miners to the top of the valley (sorry mum) and then walked up to the Sanahin Monastery past staring locals, excited school children and a cow going through a bin...i lol'd. The monastery was lovely and in the cemetary i especially liked the practice of engraving the picture of the person who was burried there on the tomb stone.
the aforementioned cow
The Sanahin monastery and graveyard
Next we headed down the cable car and up the other side of the valley and away from the smokey reminder of the copper plant to Haghpat Monestery. This is another UNESCO listed monestery and the view from the top was breathtaking. We were greeted enthusiastically by the priest there who introduced himself as Father Azbek who not only spoke perfect english but had served in Australia and gave us a personal tour. I think he must have been getting a bit bored up there as once we had finished he invited us both back to the vicarage for coffee and chocolates....
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