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Photo: WikiLiis, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Beautiful monastery that has been restored. It is now a working church again, with the smells, sounds and music that goes with it.
Kecharis Monastery, is a medieval Armenian monastic complex dating back to the 11th to 13th centuries, located 60 km from Yerevan, in the ski resort town of Tsaghkadzor in Armenia. Kecharis monastery, formerly called Kecharuk, was built in the Ayrarat region of ancient Armenia, in Varazhnunk, the 18th province, which included much of the present-day Hrazdan, Sevan and Ijevan. In the time of the Arsacid dynasti, this province was a royal hunting preserve. It then became the property of the Varazhnuni family. As far back as the 1st century, the region belonged to the Pahlavuni princes and was called Tzaghkanots. Nestled in the Pambak mountains, Kecharis was founded by a Pahlavuni prince in the 11th century, and construction continued until the middle of the 13th century with its acquisition by the Proshian family. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Kecharis was a major religious center of Armenia and a place of higher education. Today, the monastery has been fully restored and is clearly visible from the ski slopes.
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Nice park with a switchback walking trail up the mountain to Panorama Restaurant. Trail appears to be brick and is maintained in the winter so you walk on it easily.
Ropeway of Tsaghkadzor
Once used as a training ground for Soviet skiers, the lifts have been completely replaced with western equipment, and new runs have been developed as well. There are basically three levels of lifts. The first one is near the parking lot (and it's the single one working off-season), where you will also find a cafe and food. The 4-seat lift is only open during high season. The 2-seat lift is open all year. Both lifts take you to the bigger staging area. From here there are two lifts you can choose, or you can hang out in the cafe/food joint on this level (only open during high season), which can get quite smoky. The first lift you see will take you further up the mountain, and gives you a couple of good run options, or allows you to take a third lift to the very top. Otherwise, you can go a little past the first lift (below it) and take another lift which goes to the newest skiing areas. All seats can be paid for by-the-ride, which is very cheap, or by the day if you plan to do a lot of skiing. Skis can be rented in the parking lot, or at the second level under the cafe/restaurant, but quality varies widely, and the better ones may be gone by mid morning. Getting skis from a hotel may be a better option.
This involves either hiking over the ridge south of town, or driving around back to Hrazdan and over to Makravan Village. Quaint little old village monastery.
Snow tubing is available for 2500 AMD for 15 minutes or 3500 for 30 minutes. It is at the first level up on the Ropeway. They even have a little rope engine to pull you and your tube back to the top at the end of the run, so you basically just get to sit on your tube without having to hike back up.