Yerevan Things to Do

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The gardens at the foot of the Cascade contain many interesting sculptures. Also here you'll find a statue of Alexander Tamanian, the architect who was the author of the original plan for the Cascade, as well being responsible for planning the city of Yerevan.

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From Spring until Autumn there was a fountain and light show every evening in front of the Art Gallery. While I was there the display started at 9pm and lasted two hours. The fountains were lit up and danced in tune to the music which ranged from classical to pop. The display was very popular drawing large crowds.

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In the park next to the Opera House there's an artificial lake surrounded by trees. It's known by the locals as Swan Lake. The park is a popular place to visit both day and night. There are plenty of outdoor cafes. Next to the lake is a sculpture of the composer and pianist Arno Babajanian.

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There are many souvenir shops selling post cards in Yerevan but they don't sell stamps. These can only be bought in post offices. Luckily there is a post office on Republic Square. It's situated in the left hand side of the curved building on the southern side of the square.

On entering the post office there is an office on your right with Philatelic Corner on the door. This is the place to buy stamps. The current rate for a post card is AMD240. Cards can then be written on the table inside the post office and posted in the blue post box in front of the counter.

The Cathedral is dedicated to St Gregory the Illuminator, he was responsible for converting Armenia into a Christian country. It was consecrated in 2001 to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of Christianity becoming the state religion.

The interior is very spacious and was a great place to sit and shelter from the summer heat. Unfortunately I was unable to take any pictures inside due to a wedding taking place.

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HYUR SERVICE

Hyur Service is well named. After I found out that the official Tourist Information office had closed and another travel agent was unhelpful – I found these wonderful folks. They could not have been nicer. I was quickly provided with a map and directed me towards a few places of interest. These nice folks also rent out apartments/houses and can organise tours across Armenia. These also include day tours from Yerevan so you can get back to your hotel the same night. And if you really want everything set up before you arrive they will happily book your flights to the region and hotels for you as well.

The Matenadaran after St. Mesrop Mashtotz is a scientific research institute of old manuscripts at the Government of the Republic of Armenia. It is located in the Armenian capital Yerevan. The Matenadaran is the largest center of study and safekeeping of Armenian manuscripts in the world. Originals and hand-written copies of more than 17,000 manuscripts and around 300,000 divan and archive documents not only in Armenian, but also Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian, Syrian, Jewish, Hindu, Japanese, etc. are kept in the Matenadaran.

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The bad news is that the office is closed and empty. No the good news is not that you can rent the empty retail space. You can, but that's not the good news. For some reason they host an absolutely excellent website full of excellent information. No telephone number, but there is an email address.

So if you are looking for virtually every restaurant in town - have a look on their site before you go. Otherwise you will end up like me staring at the empty office and wondering why your guidebook is so out of date.