Armenia: The Bradt Travel Guide [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Nicholas Holding (Author) "Visitors to Armenia can hardly fail to be aware of two key geological features of the country: the Lesser Caucasus mountain range that projects into..." (more)
Key Phrases: umbrella cupola, circular tambour, octagonal tambour, Nagorno Karabagh, Soviet Union, Lake Sevan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This new Bradt guide will be the first English-language guide to cover the Caucasian country of Armenia in depth. Armenia was the world's first nation to adopt Christianity as the official state religion (in 301 A.D.), resulting in an astonishingly well-preserved legacy of monastic buildings, often set in magnificent locations--such as clinging to the side of steep gorges. Other historic attractions include Bronze Age standing stones, believed to have been used for astronomical observations and medieval castles. These are just some of the wonders of a country which for much of the last 2,000 years has been ruled by outsiders, with Persians, Ottomans, Arabs, and Russians all having left their imprint. Armenia is more than an add-on country for visitors to Georgia or Azerbaijan. Author Nicholas Holding shows that Armenia is a destination worth visiting in its own right. His guide has thorough coverage of accommodations, eating out, and sightseeing in the capital, including half-day and full-day excursions from Yerevan, visits to the enclave of Nagorno Karabagh, plus both an introduction to the natural history and an in-depth section on the history of Armenia.


From the Back Cover
Armenia is renowned for its medieval monasteries and fortresses, often clinging precariously to the sides of deep river gorges. Admire too its legacy of exquisite stone carvings, including the field of 900 cross-stones at Noratus, and the magnificent collection of illuminated manuscripts in Yerevan.
This guide is the first in English to offer comprehensive information on travel in Armenia. With thorough coverage of the capital, Yerevan, and highlights such as Selim caravanserai, the fortress of Smbataberd and the monastery of Noravank, it is the indispensable guide to a fascinating country.
Inside you will find information on: full and half-day excursions from Yerevan; the territory of Nagorno Karabagh; history of the first country officially to adopt Christianity; useful words and phrases; 24 clear maps, including monasteries; architecture, wildlife, religion and culture.


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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides; 1st edition (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841620815
• ISBN-13: 978-1841620817
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 7.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,195,331 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top notch guide for in-country travel, June 20, 2005

By	Brian Jetter - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I recently moved to Armenia and purchased this book right before leaving the USA. My interest was mainly to use it to find neat places to go in the countryside, and this book definitely fills that purpose. We live in Yerevan, the capital, which is fairly well documented by the book.
Our second weekend in the country we decided to travel up one of the nearby mountains - wife and three young children - to go sledding in April - and not speaking ANY Armenian yet. All we had to go on was the region map on page 106 and the narative description on the authors travels. We made it to our destination (and two meter deep snow) easily.
Just this past weekend we used the book again to visit an old (1000AD) castle ruins and some monestaries hidden in the forests of the Lori region. The narative in the book was once again precise in all details - our only issue was when we encountered a newly paved road that was described as being in poor condition in the book (time has passed since the writting).
I specially commend the book for those interested in getting out and around to the more remote areas.
The book would be considerably better with maps of every town that the main roads turn in and color pictures mixed in with the text (right now the pictures are all at the center of the book). Yerevan itself is changing rapidly and may not be quite as described, but the countryside is almost identical to when the author visited.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent effort., well worth buying, February 10, 2004

By	Adam Kadmon (Leeds, UK) - See all my reviews

This the first guidebook by a major publisher to this wonderful country. The book has a couple of quirks but makes up for it
with lots of detail and a real passion for the country.
It's a huge leap forward from the 'Georgia with Armenia' book previously published by Bradt. There are maps for each marz (province) and a smattering of city maps - Yerevan, Gyumri and Ejmiatsin. My main quibbles is that the selection of restaurants in Yerevan isn't as good as it could have been, and that the author has a clear fascination for trains which may not be shared by all readers. For example, most of the space devoted to Kapan, one of the nicer regional cities, refers to the trains and carriages stranded there. Otherwise, it's well written and obviously very thoroughly researched. The only place I can see which was missed is the Amaras monastery in Karabakh.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good effort, April 6, 2004

By A Customer

I agree with the other reviewer - it's a good effort and fairly well written. My main issues with this book are 1) that the photographs are incredibly bleak. If I had not visited Armenia last year, I definitely would not have based on the pictures. 2) The Nagorno Karabagh section was very light. It basically seemed like an after thought that was tacked on the last minute.