These 2 monasteries are linked together in the same WHS both because of their geographic proximity and their commonality of architectural design. We had both monasteries completely to ourselves. Our trip was taking us to Georgia and a visit to this WHS fits in well with the route from Yerevan to the Georgian frontier

Sanahin sits high above the industrial town of Alaverdi, a “Soviet” city built in a deep valley on 2 levels joined by a road and cable car. When we were there in August 2000 the city appeared to be suffering from the total run down of its industrial base and gave off a depressing air with its badly built Soviet apartments showing huge cracks in their walls perhaps dating back to the earthquake of 1988! It is set deep in the mountains towards the Georgian border and one wondered what economic logic there could be under a capitalist system for an industrial centre there. In the churchyard modern graves showed that the church was in use and, in a style we had come to recognise in Russia, were marked by finely etched pictures on stone depicting the deceased and often their circumstances of death. One I remember showed graphically the death of a whole family as their car careered off a mountain road!

Hagphat is a few miles further on in more rural surroundings and is perhaps the more pleasing of the 2. Both are quintessentially “Armenian” – with an atmosphere very different from Catholic or Orthodox monasteries and which needs to be experienced to be understood. The “Khatchkars” are a particularly noteworthy feature – uniquely Armenian carved crosses which act as gravestones or memorials and which crowd upon each other on walls and in the churchyard. Neither site, however, approaches the scenic grandeur of the Sevan Monastery which is beautifully situated on a lakeside and often figures in tourist brochures and posters for Armenia. But for some reason that is not a WHS!