Yerevan Off The Beaten Path

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If you're in Yerevan, and you want to see something pretty crazy, check out Lyova's potato cellar. You have to grab a cab up to Arinj, but this as you might have guessed, is no ordinary potato cellar!

Since 1985, when his wife asked him to dig a potato cellar in the soft stone under their house, this man has not stopped digging. The resulting labyrinth of a cave, with stairs, rooms, chambers, open shafts and sculpting are something you'd only imagine in a fake Hollywood set. All under this guys very ordinary Armenian house.

You can just show up, or call ahead. Either Lyova or his wife will likely be there to give a tour. There is no set price, but a donation box is there, and the wife will not forget to point it out a few times, though Lyova himself does not seem very concerned with it. $5 a person is certainly plenty if you're uncertain of how much to give - so carpool with some friends and check it out. Just tell the taxi driver to take you to Arinj and when you get there ask people where "Lyova Arakelyan" lives - just say his name and they'll point you in the right direction.

It might be safe to say this is the coolest potato cellar in the world! (Though Lyova himself calls it "Lyova's Divine Underground").

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Before you walk up the hill to see the ruins of Erebuni fortress you should see the museum with items found at the excavations on the site. Among other things there are cuneiform tablets, Urartian seals, pottery, bronze artefacts and jewellery. The museum building is just up some stairs (in an old Soviet style building) and that’s where you buy the ticket. Entrance fee is 1000 drams (June 2006).
I visited Erebuni a hot summer day and with little shadow on top of the hill it is a good idea to bring lots of water and a hat. Next to the museum there is a café with some tables in the shade, and there it was nice to sit down after the visit on the top to sip on a coke (250 drams) and listen to the Armenian and Russian music played, before looking for the bus back to central Yerevan.

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On a hill in the south-western suburb Arin-berd in Yerevan is the Urartian fortress of Erebuni. It was discovered in the 1950s when a farmer found a stone tablet with writings on it and excavations begun.
It must have been an impressive fortress with palace, storerooms, workshops, a place for animal sacrifices and splendid views. Some of the ruins have been reconstructed and on the palace walls the paintings are replicas. From a cuneiform tablet found at the excavations it is known that the fortress was built by the Urartian king Argishti I in 782 BC.

I took a marshrutka to Erebuni (nr 6) from Nalbandyan Poghots. It was 100 drams (June 2006).

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Zvartnots Cathedral is situated along the Yerevan - Echmiadzin road, only 3 km from Echmiadzin. The church and the patriarchal palace are in ruins, but you can see that this church looked different from other churches in Armenia. It was a round church with a high dome, and it is supposed to have been the largest round church in the world when it was constructed in the middle of the 7th century. During the 10th century it was destroyed by an earthquake and Arab invaders.
Today you can see finely carved stone pillars and other decorated stone fragments, the pool for baptism and remnants of a palace and winery. In the Armenian History Museum you can see a model of how the church once looked.
In the background you can see Mount Ararat, and occasionally airplanes as the international airport is nearby.
Together with Eechmiadzin, Zvartnots is an Unesco World Heritage Site.
Entrance fee is 1000 drams (August 2006).

An interesting sight in Yerevan is the equestrian statue of Vartan Mamikonian brandishing his sword, created by the sculptor E. Kochar.

The Mamikonian family was a noble family which dominated Armenian politics between the 4th and 8th centuries - and Vartan was a great military leader of Armenia, as well as a spiritual leader (in fact he's a Saint, too).

Vartan is well known for having rejected the Persian-imposed religion as well asbeing one of the men behind the great Armenian rebellion against their Sassanian lords.

Visit the Erebuni town fortress in Yerevan. This is the ruins of Urartian fortress built 2785 years ago. You can walk in the narrow streets of Erebuni, see the king's palace with it's paintings in the walls, the paint of which is very well preserved. It's worth visiting there, though the site is pretty off the city center.

Unforutnately I don't remember it's exact address, but it's near the Erebuni block of Yerevan. Any taxi driver can take you for approx. 1500 drams (~$3)

There was a lot of these kind of shady and cooler places. Nice place just sit and enjoy sounds of water.