Garni Temple, Geghard Monastery and Lavash Baking Masterclass

This fun group tour takes you to some of Armenia's most exciting places — Garni, the only pagan temple still standing, and Geghard Monastery, a monastery complex partly carved into a rock. Bonus: you will learn how to make lavash, a mouthwatering national dish!

Highlights:

• Garni Temple
• Geghard Monastery
• lavash baking master class

Includes:

• a professional multilingual guide
• transportation by air-conditioned vehicle with Wi-Fi
• entrance fees
• passenger insurance
• lavash baking master class and tasting
• bottled water and pastries

Not included:

• hotel pick-up and drop-off
• lunch

Please note:you will depart from the city center; the departures are on Mondays and Fridays.

Your first stop will be at Garni Temple, which towers over a triangular cape and features an intriguing mix of Greco-Roman and Armenian styles. One can find the royal palace ruins and baths with stunning mosaic work near the temple. Then you'll travel to Geghard Monastery, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, and a masterpiece of Armenian architecture from the 1300s. Some of its churches were carved into a huge rock. Because of how it was built, Geghardavank has excellent acoustics and is a great place to hear a church choir perform. Walking around the complex, you will notice that it is rich in subtle sculptural embellishments and has many striking khachkars or cross-stones.

The tour ends with a talk about an integral part of traditional Armenian cuisine, lavash. Tonir, a special ground oven, makes this classic, soft, thin flatbread. In 2014, "the preparation, meaning, and look of Armenian traditional bread lavash" were added to the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. You will participate in a master class and observe and learn the traditional flatbread-making techniques. After that, you will try your homemade lavash with fresh greens and delicious local cheese.