The twisted road carved in the lofty mountains to the reclusive Tatev monastery was full of people on May 27, who gathered for the inauguration of information panels installed inside and outside of the monastery complex.

Seven information panels containing information about the complex in English, Armenian, Russian, Italian, and French now welcome visitors to one of Armenia's most revered religious and cultural destinations.

Tatev became the eighth site targeted by the Armenian Monuments Awareness Project (AMAP) in its second year of aiming to make visitors’ experience to Armenian cultural and religious monument more educational and meaningful. The carefully researched information on the panels was prepared by AMAP researchers and has been approved by the Ministry of Culture and by the Armenian Apostolic Church.

AMAP grew out of ideas by chief of party Rick Ney and ArmeniaNow editor John Hughes, who both traveled across Armenia and saw the need for visitors to Armenia to have more relevant information about the locations they visit.

“Few places are as awe-inspiring as Tatev,” Ney says. “Far from the more accessible landmarks such as Geghard and Echmiadzin, Tatev is a perfect example of wedding a great monument with incredible natural surroundings. It is an honor that our NGO was chosen to help promote the beauty and history of Tatev.”

Tatev Monastery, one of the most spectacular sights in Armenia was nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Status in 1995 and like many monuments in Armenia suffered from a lack of publicly-available information, leaving visitors to either guess at its significance or rely on tour-guide accounts.

Further, as a Christian landmark, its religious significance was deleted from historic or cultural information during 70 years of communism. Only now is the story of its spiritual heritage publicly represented on the site in the panels prepared by AMAP through its sponsors: United States Agency for International Aid, Italian Consul and Viva Cell-MTS.

Considering that the road to Tatev goes through rocky slopes and often barely passable, changing from steep decent and ascents to sharp bends, information ports that will guide the visitors and provide detailed information about the spot was especially important for the mountainous monastery.

Tatev, a mountainous pearl of Syunik province about 5 hours south-east of Yerevan was founded in the ninth century in place of a tabernacle well-known in ancient times. Even though Tatev is situated on a mountain top, its location is strategically advantageous, as it was initially built as a defense complex.

The inauguration of the information kiosks was warmly welcomed by villagers of Tatev, who organized a stand up meal party for the guests, with traditional Armenian bread lavash, cheese, honey and cookies. Among the guest were Antonio Mataldo, honory counsul of Italy, United Nations representative Consuela Vidal, Armenian Assembly of America Country Director Arpi Vartanian, deputy governor of Syunik Ara Dolunts and others. Competitive Armenia Program representative Alan Saffery, whose agency supports AMAP as a USAID contractor, emphasized the value of the AMAP project. Saffery told the crowd of about 100 villagers that he had previously visited Tatev with his mother-in-law, who was disappointed that there was no information available. Through CAPS’ support foreign and local tourists now will have a more educational experience in Tatev and other designated sites that include Karahundj, Amberd, Geghard – among locations to be marked this year.

During Wednesday’s ceremonies, Montaldo (who was AMAP’s first sponsor) was named an “Honorary Citizen of Goris” for the work he has done in the region, including building a hospital in Goris during the Karabakh war of the early 1990s.

During his comments, Goris mayor Nelson Voskanyan told about government plans to make Tatev a more vital tourism destination, including plans for a 5 km funicular way that would take visitors up to the monastery.

Tatev is AMAP’s third installation this year, following successful presentations at Armash and Yeghegis within the past month. In its pilot project last year AMAP made installations in Giumri, Zvartnots, Khor Virap, Noravank and Garni, putting up a total of 54 panels and 33 directional road signs. At the end of this project cycle, AMAP will have erected more than 260 information panels and 100 directional road signs for 19 Armenian monuments.

By end of this year AMAP expects to have completed projects that include marking the historic “Silk Highway” through Armenia from Georgia to Iran.