Armenia

The photos show the Armenian ruined city of Ani, which lies in the Turkish-Armenian border area on the Turkish side. Ani – also called the city of 1001 churches – was in 10/11th Century capital of the Armenian Empire on the Northern Silk Road.

Armenia borders with Turkey and the Azerbaijani exclave Naxcivan in the west, Georgia in the north, Azerbaijan in the east and has a 35 km long common border with Iran in the south.

The stony mountainous country, 90% of which is over 1,000 meters above sea level, was the first Christian state in the world. Almost half of the country is covered by rugged volcanic rock. The average altitude is 1,800 meters. Armenia’s culture is deeply rooted in Christianity, despite the strong oriental influence due to its location. The Armenian Apostolic Church dominates.

The climate is continually dry. There is little agriculture and only a quarter of the country is used as pasture. But there is a lot of fruit cultivation: pomegranate, figs, peaches, grapes and last but not least apricots, which came to Europe under the name Armenian plum (Latin Prunus armeniaca). The apricot is an important symbol of the country, the color of which decorates even the bottom stripe of the flag. Viticulture in Armenia has an ancient culture.

Of the approx. 2.9 million people are 98% Armenians, about 1.2% Yazidis and other smaller minorities like Russians, Assyrians, Ukrainians. Georgians and Greeks. More than two thirds of the Armenians live scattered in the diaspora.

The Armenian language is the official language in the country. It belongs to the Indo-European language family, which incorporated elements of Caucasian and Oriental languages. Armenian is written with its own script, which was developed at the beginning of the 5th century.

There is a great contrast between the fast-growing modern capital Yerewan and the country.

Unesco World Heritage in Armenia

Intangible Cultural Heritage in Armenia