The participants of the “Diaspora” Summer School Program of the RA Ministry of Diaspora are spending the last days of their summer vacation in the homeland.

On July 23, the participants of the Training Course for Teachers of Armenian Language and History and Organizers of Education and the Accelerated Armenian Language Courses visited Khor Virap (Deep Dungeon) Monastery and Noravank Monastery.

As reported Hayern Aysor, the first stop was Khor Virap Monastery. The visit was touching and important in that most of the participants were visiting this shrine for the first time ever. They toured the monastery, were introduced to the site and history and went down into the dungeon where Gregory the Illuminator had been locked up for nearly 14 years.

The second major visit of the day was the visit to Noravank Monastery, which seemed unreachable for the participants at a distance. Even the hot weather didn’t stop them from climbing to the top.

“I shivered when I was going down into the dungeon where Gregory the Illuminator had suffered. When I finally reached the bottom, I couldn’t hold back my tears. I immediately felt the presence of Gregory the Illuminator and didn’t want to go up. It was as if some kind of magnetic force was keeping me there. I also admired the architectural masterpiece of Noravank Monastery and the leap of thought of the masterminds. I can only admire and take pride in our national values,” participant of the “Diaspora” Summer School Program, teacher of the “Veratsnund” (Renaissance) Armenian School of Moscow Lilit Demirtchyan said as she shared her impressions in an interview with Hayern Aysor.

Lusine Grigoryan

Volunteer for the “Diaspora” Summer School Program, student of the Department of Diaspora Studies of the Faculty of History of Yerevan State University