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Photo: Tamara Areshian, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Tegher Monastery is an early 13th-century Armenian monastery and church located on the southeastern slopes of Mount Aragats near the modern village of Tegher, and across the gorge from the village of Byurakan in the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia. It was built for Princess Khatun, the wife of Prince Vache I Vachutian who had purchased the district of Aragatzotn from the Zakarian brothers. The architect Vardapet Aghbayrik designed Tegher and the monasteries of Saghmosavank and Hovhannavank during the 13th century. The monastery survived intact during a time when Mongol invasions plagued the lands.
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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.