Twelfth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Armenia, which was the first Christian state in the world, has the most ancient symbols and places of worship for its religion. The cultural heritage of the country, which has returned to the forefront of foreign news in recent months, is for many reasons a unique example of the importance of a particular group in the history and the continuity of the influence of religion on the identity of its members. The key element of this heritage is architecture, especially religious buildings, which is a unique combination of elements of nature in the form of stones and rocks with human civilization achievements in the design of, among others, places of worship for which the country is commonly called “Hajastan-Qarastan” (“Armenian country/place - country/place of stone”. Churches, chapels, monastic complexes, khachkars, combined with the dominant mountain landscape, remain attractive places also in terms of tourism. Considering the great cultural and religious significance of the selected six places for Armenians, it was decided to investigate how this heritage is interpreted in the tourist practices of the representatives of the Armenian diaspora and foreign tourists visiting them. he following places were selected: 1) Echmiadzin Cathedral 2) Khor Wirap Monastery 3) Zwartnoc Cathedral 4) Geghard Monastery Complex 5) Goszawank Monastery and 6) Tatev Monastery. In this study such aspects are analyzed: opinions and recommendations of these places, published on the TripAdvisor - as short traveling texts.