Sighnaghi
This well-displayed, modern museum has good exhibits on Kakheti archaeology and history downstairs, and a room of 13 paintings by Kakheti-born artist Niko…
Must-see attractions in Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan
Tbilisi
This 20m-tall aluminium symbol of Tbilisi holds a sword in one hand and a cup of wine in the other – a classic metaphor for the Georgian character, warmly…
Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan
Probably the most important structure in Karabakh, the Gandzasar Monastery signifies the millennia-old Armenian presence in Karabakh to locals. Dating…
Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan
This overgrown masterpiece has a bell tower, fine khachkars and monastic cells around the main 13th-century Surp Dadi church. Watch out for holes into…
Armenia
Located 32km south of Yerevan at the foot of Mt Ararat, Khor Virap has been repeatedly rebuilt since the 5th century. Legend says the pagan King Trdat III…
Yerevan
For something totally unique, head to this museum near Hrazdan Gorge. Crammed with collages, drawings, photographs and assemblages created by the…
Yerevan
Standing at the top of Yerevan’s grandest avenue, this cathedral-like manuscript library is a source of enormous pride to all Armenians. The first…
Azerbaijan
The Unesco-listed Qobustan Petroglyph Reserve protects thousands of stick-figure stone engravings dating back up to 12,000 years. Themes include livestock…
Azerbaijan
The unique Ateşgah is an 18th-century fire temple whose centrepiece is a flaming hearth. Arching above is a four-pillared stone dome with side flues which…
Northern Armenia
On a promontory between the gorges of the Dzoragets and Miskhana Rivers, this ruined fortress has huge towers and massive stone blocks along its exposed…
Armenia
Marmashen’s location deep in a river valley 10km northwest of Gyumri is unusual – medieval monasteries in Armenia were almost always constructed in…
Northern Armenia
Occupying a commanding position overlooking the gorge, this monastery has atmosphere and architectural splendour in spades. Founded around 976 by Queen…
Azerbaijan
On top of utterly unpromising little Daşgil Hill is a weird collection of baby mud volcanoes, a whole family of ‘geologically flatulent’ little conical…
Azerbaijan
The brilliantly renovated round-towered 'temple' in pretty Kiş village has been lovingly converted into a very well-presented trilingual museum. It’s the…
Yerevan
From dawn till late into the night, Republic Sq is Yerevan's focal point and beating heart. Designed by architect Alexander Tamanyan as part of his 1924…
Armenia
Locals say the cave shelters of Old Goris carved into the hillside on the east side of town were built and inhabited in the 5th century. Several trails…
Lake Sevan
Approximately 900 khachkars (headstones) dating from as far back as the 10th-century dot this breathtaking cemetery on the western edge of Lake Sevan…
Baku
This joyous tailor-made gallery uses struts and tubing to create a wide variety of intimate viewing spaces, in many of which you can recline on bean-bag…
Armenia
Perched on the edge of the Kasagh Gorge, this monastery in the village of Ohanavan was once an important educational and theological centre where…
Armenia
Surrounded by a fortified wall and commanding wonderful views over the Kasagh Gorge and to Mt Aragats, Saghmosavank (Monastery of Palms) is located in the…
Yerevan
Its somewhat esoteric name means that many visitors to Yerevan overlook this museum. This is a great shame, as it is home to the best folk-art collection…
Museum of the Aslamazyan Sisters
Armenia
Artists Mariam (1907–2006) and Yeranuhi (1910–98) Aslamazyan were born in Bash-Shirak village near Gyumri and two floors of this handsome 19th-century…
Azerbaijan
Laza is a diffuse scattering of houses encircled by soaring mountains with grass-clad slopes and ribbon waterfalls cascading over perilous cliff edges. A…
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
Armenia
Etchmiadzin is the Vatican of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the place where Surp Grigor Lusavorich saw a beam of light in a divine vision, and where he…
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
Borjomi
The ranges of the Lesser Caucasus in southern Georgia are less well known and much lower than the Great Caucasus, but they still contain some very…
Tbilisi
The biggest symbol of the Georgian Orthodox Church's post-Soviet revival towers on Elia Hill above Avlabari. Tsminda Sameba, unmissable by night and day,…
Armenia
Catholicos Nerses III (known as 'the Builder') sponsored construction of the 'Celestial Angels Cathedral' in the 7th century. Destroyed in the 10th…
Armenia
In 2007, proud Armenians were ecstatic when archaeologists discovered the world's oldest known winery dating back 6100 years at this cave. The next year,…
Northern Armenia
Hidden in a verdant valley 13km northeast of Dilijan, Haghartsin ('Dance of the Eagles’) was built between the 10th and 13th centuries and has three…
Tbilisi
The brick domes rising here are the roofs of subterranean bathhouses, the Abanotubani. Alexanders Dumas and Pushkin both bathed in these sulphurous waters…
Yerevan
This museum preserves the studio and some of the works of 20th-century painter Martiros Sarian, known for his vibrant colour-saturated canvases. On the…
Northern Armenia
Akhtala, a small village 20km northeast of Alaverdi, has one major claim to fame: the magnificent frescoes in its 13th-century church. These include a…
Armenia
Constructed on a ridge above the confluence of the little gorges of the Amberd and Arkashen streams, this majestic stone fortress dates back to the 7th…
Azerbaijan
For a surreal slice of transplanted Teutonic history, drive around half an hour south of Gəncə to this agreeable small town founded as Helenendorf by…
Northern Armenia
Sanahin is a World Heritage site packed with ancient graves, darkened chapels and medieval study halls. The inner sanctum of the cross-shaped Surp…
Azerbaijan
Atop a supersteep grassy ridge, Beşbarmaq Dağ is a distinctive split crag whose mystical crown of phallic rocks attracts (mostly female) pilgrims. They…
Armenia
Once the summer residence of the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, the still-functioning Harichavank is located in the old town of Harich, about 4km from the…
Armenia
The bishops of Syunik built the main church, Surp Poghos-Petros (St Paul and St Peter), in the 9th century to house important relics. There are faint…
Azerbaijan
In a raised gully near Digah village, a 10m-long strip of 'eternal' fire licks gently at at the foot of Fire Mountain. The name is misleading for what is…
Lake Sevan
A pagan temple once occupied this elevated site overlooking the lake, but was replaced by a now-ruined church in 305. Two further churches, Surp…
