Photographer Hopes to Popularize Lesser-Known Cultural Sites in Armenia

Several years after my family vacation I had the opportunity to participate in Birthright Armenia. Besides working as a volunteer, we also went on excursions to tourist sites. During this time, I started wondering what other places I could see and that was the unofficial beginning of the project.

It started with the creation of a Google custom map and for the last 5 years I have been adding to the map and continuing my research. My background is photography, but I realized the importance of showing information along with the photos.

In my research I found that many places to visit were located in between typical tourist attractions and that is where the name of the project comes from. For example, every tourist has visited Garni temple, but did you know that 5 minutes away you can find the beautiful 12^th-century Mashtots Hayrapet Church?

Or let’s say you are visiting Tatev Monastery, 10 minutes off the main road you can stop and visit Vorotnavank, a 11th century monastic complex.

Or even for a day you are staying in Yerevan, there are some amazing sites such as the St. Astvatsatsin Katoghike Church in Avan, the oldest surviving church in Yerevan, built between the years 591 and 602.

So what can you expect from this project? Besides providing photos and information, there is also an interactive map that will help users visualize where these sites are in relation to places they have already visited and help them plan their next trip. Again this is all about creating a tool that provides accessible information. Research and descriptions with the photos come from mostly English, Armenian, and Russian online sources. A lot of the work was digging deep to find the information and combining them all in one place!