Sunday May 31, 2009
Today is the second day we woke up in Karabagh. After breakfast we headed toward Amaras. On the road we saw the Shushi Jail up on a mountain overlooking the valleys of Karabagh. We also saw piglets, goats, cows and snakes. The mountains of Karabagh are rocky, high, big, beautiful and mysterious.
After approximately an hour drive from Stepanagert, we arrived to Amaras. Amaras is the name of a river. It is one of the first schools of Armenia. It was also a church. This monastery was founded by Krikor Lousavoritch and finished by his grandson Grigoris. Grigoris was later buried there after he was killed at the age of 16. He was killed because he was spreading the Christian Religion. His gravesite is under the Khoran which is the oldest part of the church. His gravesite has a secret passage that goes to a river gorge.
Amaras was destroyed by Mongols and others who wanted to stop the spread of Christianity. It was last rebuilt in the 17th Century.
After Amaras, we had lunch at Nver Restaurant in Stepanagert. There was a river next to the restaurant. We went down to the river and threw rocks. We also met other local kids.
Then we went to the Fallen Hero’s Museum. There were 3350 pictures of men and women in the Karapagh war. The guide’s son died in the war. She thanked us for visiting and honoring the soldiers.
Then we visited the tank that first entered Shushi during the war. We took pictures and then drove to the Shushi Museum.
The Shushi Museum taught us how the people who liberated Shushi strategically planned the takeover from the Azeri’s. There were four attacks that were planned to take place simultaneously on May 8-9. They climbed the mountains on foot and unexpectedly attacked the Azeri’s. We won the war and the Azeri’s fled.
After the museum we went to Khazanchezots Church that was a basilical church which means it had three different naves and did not have crosses. The Alter and the windows were built with with Russian and Orthodox influence. There are windows in the back of the Alter. This is the only church we visited that had pews. There is a Confession chamber under the Alter. It is built so that when you stand in the center of the chamber and confess, the echo bounces right back to you and only you. Every time someone said Der Voghomia and the sound bounced back, their faces were in shock. In the chamber if you whispered something into the wall and someone is listening on the exact other side you could hear the whisper.
Then we went to the Shushi Hotel for dinner. We played soccer and whiffle ball with the local kids. It was really fun.
This was a great day. My favorite part of the day was the Khazanchezots Church.
Your reporter for the day,
Kevork Hamparian