Armavir Marz is a flat, dry province in western Armenia, extending across the Ararat plain from the Aras River to the outskirts of Yerevan. It is not scenic in a conventional sense, but it contains some of the most important sites in the country: the world headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church, three UNESCO World Heritage churches, Armenia's most significant battle memorial, and two archaeological sites from ancient civilisations that predate Armenia itself.
The centrepiece is Vagharshapat (widely known as Echmiadzin), the spiritual capital of the Armenian church. The Cathedral — founded in 301 AD when Armenia became the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion — has been rebuilt many times, but beneath the altar lies a preserved pagan fire pit that predates the Christian structure. The surrounding compound includes the museum, khachkar garden, and churches of Hripsime, Gayane, and Zvartnots, all on the UNESCO list.
Sardarapat, in the west of the province, marks the site of the 1918 battle in which the Armenian army — outnumbered and outgunned — repelled a Turkish invasion and saved the Armenian people from complete annihilation. The memorial is soaring and sombre; the adjacent ethnographic museum is one of Armenia's best.