Yerevan

back to hikes and climbs back to Locations and Travel

Yerevan Cascade

Summary: At an altitude of 900 meter Yerevan is dominated by the mighty silhouette of Noah's mountain, Ararat. However, for generations Ararat and the former Armenian land around it has belonged to Turkey. One can sense a certain melancholy or resignation in this stony country that has suffered repeated conquests and earth quakes. Yet Yerevan has a fresh atmosphere, although the years after independence from the former Soviet Union were tumultuous. The visitor sees a young, quite egalitarian country.

To fully explore the capital of Armenia, one needs several days. Thankfully, street names and locations in Yerevan are now signposted in both Armenian and Latin script. Tourism is welcome with an air of honest hospitality. Restaurants of all kind and budgets are everywhere, Jazz clubs are going through a revival.

A pecualiarity of Yerevan and Armenia are the Khachkar - a usually flat stele with an ornamentally carved cross. The Khachkar is one of the most characteristic symbols of Armenian identity.

The Musical Fountains: Below is the Republic Square in the center of Yerevan. Click on the image to see and hear the Musical Fountains.

Hiking the Yerevan Cascades: Below is the track of climbing the Yerevan Cascade from the bottom to the top. It is a good exercise - repeat as often as needed. The upper third of the stairs leads past a huge construction pit, which is likely to remain under construction for a while. The lower part can be also overcome by escalators.

At each level, there are pieces of art, both outside on the stairs and inside where the escalators are. The whole area is an open-air museum of modern art.

Maximum altitude:	1058 meter
Minimum altitude:	942 meter
Cumulative height:	111 meter
Cumulative length:	1.5 kilometer roundtrip
Difficulty	easy
Time:	1 hour or more (for sightseeing)
Date of this record	October 2014
Download GPS info:	Yerevan Cascade

Katoghike. T the small church is the only one surviving the 1679 Yerevan earthquake.

You may feel rather illiterate, in Armenia, trying to decipher the writings...

The new Mega-Cathedral St. Gregory The Enlightener

One of the many Khachkars. A Khachkar is usually positioned according to the cardinal points of the world, with a cross facing west.

Surb Zoravor - hidden between Saryan and Pushkin Street

We timed our trip so as to climb up in the fading light, and returning in the dark

The lion is made from shredded car tyres

View over Yerevan, with Ararat in the distance

The monument on top of the Cascade. The Cascade is not leading to a peak. At the top you will be at a plateau and on eye level with the buzz and traffic.

The Cascade, with its two illuminated sitting men.

GPS and trailmaps: The map and trailinformation is generated by

, based on GPS information collected from the actual hike. Waypoints can be downloaded to a GPS device from Wikiloc. If necessary, use GPSBabel to convert GPS data to different formats. For more hike descriptions by Palmtreetreeproduction, browse this website or visit Wikiloc and search for "Palmtreeproduction". You may also find nearby trails from other authors.

Google Earth: You may also view the trail in 3D by clicking "view in Google Earth" when on Wikiloc. You need to have Google Earth installed on your computer.