Tatev Monastery

Why Tatev Monastery works

Tatev Monastery has stood on its dramatic clifftop site above the Vorotan River gorge since the 9th century, and for much of Armenia's medieval period functioned as a major centre of learning and manuscript production, its university at one point home to hundreds of scholars and monks copying and studying religious and secular texts. The complex includes the main Church of Saints Paul and Peter, an unusual swinging pillar known as Gavazan that was designed by medieval monks to sway in response to earth tremors and enemy movement as an early warning device, and a fortified perimeter reflecting the monastery's role as both a spiritual and defensive stronghold on Armenia's southern frontier. The approach today is as much an attraction as the destination: the Wings of Tatev cable car, opened in 2010, spans 5.7 kilometres across the Vorotan Gorge and holds the Guinness World Record for the longest reversible aerial tramway, carrying visitors above forested cliffs and the winding river far below in around 12 minutes. Before the cable car, reaching Tatev required a lengthy drive down into and back out of the gorge, and many travellers still combine the tram journey with a hike partway down to appreciate the gorge's scale from below. The surrounding Syunik region, Armenia's mountainous south, holds several other lesser-visited monasteries and villages, but Tatev's setting and the cable car journey alone justify the trip from Yerevan, roughly a four-hour drive each way.

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