Armenia, where natural beauty, wine and brandy trump a troubled past and a volatile present

11 June, 2017

From a vertiginous 1,476 feet, the almond-coloured cityscape of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, looks bewitching. A 572-step stairway has transported me to the Mountain Terrace of Cascades, a contemporary art museum and sculpture garden, from where I am soaking in a panorama of terracotta-roofed houses, statuesque buildings and green pastures stretching out to snow-swathed mountains. Above it all soars Mount Ararat where Noah’s Ark is believed to have landed, every bit as mighty as its biblical status.

Bucolic locations, monasteries set in tumbling landscapes, gurgling streams, lapis lazuli lakes — Armenia is picture-postcard turf. One of the cradles of civilisation, the pint-sized country was also the first in the world to officially adopt Christianity as the state religion in AD 301. With doughty neighbours (Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran) hemming it in, the nation is also at a geopolitical and cultural crossroads. Raed more:

MFA RA
official website

Dual citizenship

Electronic visa

Visa applications