Armenia – The Cradle of Civilization – Madrileños por el mundo

On January 15, 2019, the Spanish TV station “Telemadrid” wrote that the Spanish “Madrid in the World” (“Madrileños por el mundo”) TV show had made a report about Armenia with the support of the Armenian Embassy in Spain.

The project tells about the Matenadaran, the repository of ancient manuscripts; the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute which contains information about 1.5 million Armenians massacred in the early 20th century; and the History Museum of Armenia.

“Madrileños por el mundo” reports that Armenia is considered the birthplace of one of the first civilizations. According to the show, the History Museum of Armenia situated at the Republic Square in Yerevan contains century-old works of Armenian science and technology.

This museum is one of the most important in the country since it contains more than 400.000 items from the Paleolithic period to the present day. Among them should be noted the oldest leather shoes in the world aged over 5.500 years.

The show also tells us that it is also necessary to visit the Armenian Genocide Institute-Museum to learn about the modern history of Armenia. This building contains information about 1.5 million Armenians killed in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.

In addition, it was mentioned that Armenia is the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion. Thus, the Khor Virap monastery is a must-see as well, being a famous pilgrimage site where the first Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church Gregory the Illuminator had been imprisoned.

In addition, Mount Ararat forming the background for the monastery is also closely associated with Christianity: it is believed that Noah’s Ark could have landed on Mount Ararat after the biblical Flood.

Original publication and film: www.telemadrid.es