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Photo: Liveon001 © Travis K. Witt, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Church of Surb Hovhannes (Saint John the Evangelist) was consecrated on 31 May 2015. In September 2009 a dome-blessing ceremony was conducted by the supreme Catholicos of all Armenians, where crosses were placed on the top of the domes. If the workers are outside, do not be shy to ask to see the church. They are very proud of their work and will gladly give a tour and take you up to the top if they have a moment.
Surp Hovhannes Church is an important 10th-century basilica located in the village of Byurakan in the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia. Not very far away from S. Hovhannes in the same village, are the ruins of the Artavazik Church of the 7th century with a huge 13th-century khachkar monument directly across the ravine from the structure.
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You can observe stars and planets from one of the Byurakan Observatory telescopes. Tours are organized everyday at 21:00, 22:00 and 23:00. You will join a group of about 20 to 30 people and observe one or two stars and one or two planets. As the group can be quite large, you will unfortunately not have a lot of time per person to observe the sky through the telescope. Moreover, as there is a lot of light pollution due to the cities on the bottom of the volcano, the sky is not as dark as it used to be probably at the construction of the observatory. However, it is still a good experience if you have never observed stars through a telescope. It is recommended to book in advance the tour by phone but if you are a solo traveler, you can just show yourself at 21:00 and ask to join the group.