Echmiadzin
ԵՋՄԻԱԾԻՆ
The center of the Armenian Orthodox church
August 6, 2005
We managed to get up at 10:30 this morning without much of a problem. I slept like
a rock and could have slept longer had I been given the chance. Like much of this
part of the world, there is little hot water and much of the day there is no water
at all. We had missed our morning water-window so went without a shower, a ritual
I feel I will partake in often on this trip.
We went to the bus stop for Echmiadzin, little more than a stop on a street corner.
We made it to Echmiadzin and got off in front of the church complex which is essentially
the Vatican of the Armenian Orthodox church. At one end of the complex stands an
enormous monument to the visit of the late Pope John Paul II. The monument was quite
impressive especially given the income of many of the people here. It stuck me that
they sacrificed the money to build such a monument while much of the surrounding
area was going to ruins.
We bought much needed water at the small store at the entrance and the woman actually
spoke English and insisted on using it.
I felt slightly out of place here in my shorts; the typically dress is of long dark
pants and a shirt that is something other than a t-shirt with English writing on
it. The people seemed to notice me; however no one stared or made me feel uneasy.
We walked around the grounds and into the church, which was adorned with incredible
detail in carved stone work. The inside was ordinary, but the museum in the back
was very interesting. The museum contained religious books from hundreds of years
ago written in Armenian and even had a container with part of Noah’s ark in it very
near the spear head that pierced Christ’s side on the day of his death.
We lit candles in the church, crossed ourselves three times and exited the church
backwards so as to avoid turning our backs to the altar.