Tatev Monastery and Wings of Tatev

Tatev Monastery stands on a basalt plateau at the edge of the Vorotan Gorge in southern Armenia. Founded in the ninth century, it became one of the great centres of medieval Armenian learning, and its walls, churches and bell tower look out over a dramatic landscape of cliffs and forest.

Since 2010 the favourite way in has been the Wings of Tatev, a cable car that runs for about 5.7 kilometres from the village of Halidzor across the gorge, high above the river. The ride itself is one of the most memorable experiences in Armenia.

Tatev is four to five hours’ drive from Yerevan, so most travellers stay overnight in Goris or visit on the way south. The road passes Noravank, a red-rock monastery in a narrow canyon, which makes a good stop.