This week’s featured UNESCO World Heritage Site is a charming old monastery carved into the side of a mountain in Armenia. The monastery of Geghard dates back to the 4th century AD, when it was founded by Gregory the Illuminator, the man responsible for Armenia’s adoption of Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD.

However, most of the buildings in the monastery were built later. The main chapel, for example, was constructed in 1215 AD. The original 4th century construction consisted of rooms and chambers carved out of a cave that surrounded a sacred spring. Although the original cave cell housing the spring is still there, little else is left of the original monastery, as it was all destroyed by earthquakes or Arab invaders.

The monastery is home to an ancient spear, supposedly the spear that soldiers used to pierce Jesus’ side when he was being crucified. This relic gives the monastery its name: Geghardavank, which means “the monastery of the spear.”

If you’re going to Armenia, Geghard is definitely worth a visit. However, first you’ll need to obtain an Armenian visa. You can get your Armenian visa in advance or on arrival. If you apply on arrival, you’ll have a choice between purchasing a single-entry visa valid for 21 days for approximately $8 or purchasing a visa valid for 120 days for around $41 dollars. However, it’s not a bad idea to apply beforehand, as doing so will get you out of the airport more quickly.

To apply for an Armenian visa, you’ll need the following documents:

• Your US passport
• 1 Armenian visa application form
• 1 passport photo
• If your visit will be less than 120 days, that’s all you need. However, if you’ll be staying more than 120 days, you need an invitation letter from your host.

RushMyTravelVisa makes the process of getting an Armenian visa in advance easy and quick. We’ll also research your itinerary to make sure you get all the documents you need to travel, including any necessary transit visas for stopovers on the way to or from Armenia. We assist you with the application, help you gather your documents and expedite your application for the fastest possible processing.

Apply for your Armenian visa today!

Tags: Armenia, Armenia visa, Armenian visa, UNESCO World Heritage Sites

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 3rd, 2010 at 9:09 pm and is filed under World Heritage Site of the Week. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.