UNESCO ×2
Faith & stone
Echmiadzin, Zvartnots & Saghmosavank
7 hoursSmall group, max 16
The mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the ruins of a vast seventh-century rotunda, and a monastery on the lip of a canyon.
From€22per person
Cities & people
Gyumri, Harichavank & the Black Fortress
Armenia's second city — a nineteenth-century town of red and black tuff that survived two earthquakes and kept its sense of humour.
Duration
10 hours
Group
Small group, max 16
Difficulty
Easy — walking on cobbles
Languages
EN · RU · DE · FR · IT · ES
What you will see
- The Kumayri district: over a thousand nineteenth-century buildings, around 1,600 listed monuments
- Holy Saviour's Church, modelled on the cathedral of Ani, reconsecrated in 2024
- The Aslamazyan Sisters Gallery, Armenia's only museum devoted to women artists
- Harichavank, whose east façade shows two princes holding a model of their church
Worth knowingGyumri can also be reached by train from Yerevan, which is slow, cheap and rather charming. Ask us if you would prefer to go that way and have us meet you there.
How the day runs
1
West to Shirak
Two hours across the plateau, with Aragats on your right the whole way.
2
Harichavank
Near Artik: a church of St Gregory from the seventh century in the Mastara style, and a cathedral completed in 1201 by order of Zakare II Zakarian, with a twenty-sided drum. The east façade carries a relief of the Zakarian brothers holding a model of the church between them. From 1850 it was the summer residence of the Catholicos.
3
Kumayri
Gyumri's historic district — whole streets in alternating red and black tuff, cut by hand in the 1870s, with carved balconies and keystone masks over the doors. Almost all of it survived the earthquakes of 1926 and 1988.
4
The 1988 earthquake
On 7 December 1988 a magnitude 6.8 earthquake destroyed much of the city. The official death toll across the region is 25,000, though estimates run as high as 50,000, with over half a million left homeless. Gyumri had around 290,000 people before it; the 2022 census counted 112,301. This is part of the city and your guide will speak about it honestly.
5
Vardanants Square and the Black Fortress
Holy Saviour's Church, built 1858–1872 on the model of Ani cathedral, damaged in both earthquakes and finally reconsecrated in December 2024. Then Sev Berd, a round black-stone fortress the Russian army began in 1834 after the war with the Ottomans.
6
Lunch, and the humour
Gyumri calls itself the capital of Armenian humour and has a canon of named local wits — Poloz Mukuch, Jgher Khachik — whose anecdotes are still told. Lunch is long and the stories are better with a translator.
What is included
In the price
- Transport in an air-conditioned vehicle
- Licensed guide in your language
- Hotel pickup and drop-off in central Yerevan
- Bottled water
Not included
- Lunch
- Museum entrances (about €3 each)
- Tips
Practical details
- Departs
- Wed & Sun, 09:00
- Meeting point
- Republic Square, by the History Museum steps — or we collect you from your hotel in central Yerevan at no extra cost.
- Difficulty
- Easy — walking on cobbles
- Payment
- No prepayment for day tours — pay your guide in cash or by card on the day.
- Cancellation
- Free up to 24 hours before departure. If we cancel, you choose a full refund or another date.
What to bring
- Comfortable shoes for cobbled streets
- A warm layer — Gyumri sits at 1,550 m and is markedly colder than Yerevan
Questions about this tour
No. People in Gyumri talk about it readily and would generally rather you understood than tiptoed. Follow your guide's lead.
Yes, and we recommend it — Gyumri in the evening is a different city. We can book a guesthouse in Kumayri.
Route map
Stops in the order we visit them. Distances are indicative, not a driving route.
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Want it privately?
This tour also runs as a private day
Your own vehicle and guide, your own start time, and the freedom to linger where it is worth lingering.