We visited the ruins of Zvartnots Temple (or Cathedral) out on the Ararat Plateau. It's really an archeological site. Construction began in 643 AD under the instructions of Catholicos Nerses III so it's an ancient and historical temple. The story was that it was an early and enduring architectural design. It changed over the years but in the 10th century, an earthquake largely destroyed it. It was rediscovered and excavated between 1900 and 1907. Someone was assigned the job of attempting to reconstruct what it looked like. They did that and in the 1940's, it was partially reconstructed.

We visited the entire site, and I was never clear exactly how it was determined exactly what it had looked like but there were plenty of ruins for us to review. Our guide gave us lots of insights but it still looked mostly like an archeological site to me.

Like most places around the Ararat Plain, the most outstanding feature was Mount Ararat as a backdrop.

They had a photo that showed what the cathedral had looked like when originally constructed. It must have been magnificent for that time.

I took photos of the main temple but there were lots of other areas around the temple so it must have been a large complex.

Some of the pieces discovered by the archeologists were in remarkably good condition, though the sun dial was a little slow.