Tatev

The cable car has a complex set of opening hours, but the times indicated here, serve best. Cars depart every 15 min but if you go on a weekend be prepared to wait, sometimes up to 2 hr. The dangling cars travel at 37 km/h, take 11 min one-way and offer stunning views from heights of up to 320 m. There is a restaurant on site, along with toilets and a small gift shop. There is free Wi-Fi at both of the terminal stations.

At the bottom of the Vorotan River Gorge, this natural land bridge over the river on the road from Halidzor to Tatev is called Devil's Bridge (Satanayi Kamurj) by locals. It has a carbonated spring, that you can drink from, along the side of the road, and if you go down a short trail you can swim in a spring-fed pool. A tough climb down below the land bridge will reward you with stalactites, stalagmites, and little pools in a cavernous tunnel. Plenty of space around to camp and picnic.

This watchtower overlooking the Vorotan Gorge was the third in a chain of stations established in the Zangezur Mountains to warn of approaching enemies. Upon seeing a potential threat, sentries in Kordzor would raise an alarm, which a bell in Khot relayed to the watchtower at Harsnadzor and on Tatev Monastery, those the big bell would be rang to inform residents of the threat. This bell could be heard across a 50-km radius. Enemies severed the chain of notification when they burned the bell in Khot. A rotunda with the chains that once supported the bell remains at the site of the Harsnadzor watchtower. According to legend a young man and woman once were traveling along the ravine edge. They were unexpectedly attacked by Persian soldiers. The man was killed, while his bride, deciding she would rather die than be taken captive, crossed herself and jumped into the ravine. Her dress miraculously inflated and gently lowered her to the ground. Since then, this part of Vorotan Gorge has been named Harsnadzor ('Gorge of the Bride').

This oil mill was built in the 17th century outside the walls of the monastery so as not to disturb the monks. It has four production rooms including two domed storage rooms and pressing chambers with arched ceilings. One of its rooms still has a massive millstone that was rotated by an ox. The oil press workers would first dry sesame, mustard, flax seeds, or whole plants on a stove, then grind them, place under a press, and the oil would flow into jars through stone grooves. The oil was consumed locally for food and was also used for the monastery’s defense. Surplus oil was either sold or traded. This mill is one of the best preserved in Armenia and was one of the first facilities in the monastery restored in frame of Tatev Revival Project.

A nearby small village to visit and hike to.

Notable even in a country known for stunning landscapes and architecture, this massive monastery complex is a continuation of a sheer cliff that drops below it for hundreds of meters. Once the seat of great wealth, this monastery controlled much of the surrounding countryside. It saw invasions, peasant rebellions and earthquakes. A severe earthquake in the 20th century caused great damage that was partially fixed during Soviet times. Now, it's still a spectacular site.