Yerevan

Yerevan is built from tuff, a pink volcanic stone that turns deep red at sunset. To the south a lone volcanic cone closes the horizon, so high it seems parked at the end of the streets. Evenings gather around Republic Square, where the fountains dance to music, while the huge stairway of the Yerevan Cascade climbs to the upper town between sculptures and terraced gardens. The table is generous: apricots, pomegranates, grilled meat and lavash bread pulled from a pit oven. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity, and its monasteries hide in the rock or at the bottom of gorges. Geghard is cut into a cliff, Noravank stands at the end of a red canyon, and Khor Virap faces the volcano across the plain. Beside the Garni Temple, the only Greco-Roman temple left standing in the region, basalt columns drop towards the river. Brandy has been aged in the city's cellars since 1887.