Research
The Road to Sourp Sdepanos
In May 2014, I was traveling from Van to Kars with my wife and a group of close friends. Not long after passing the northeast-most corner of Lake Van, I was looking up at the […]
Travel
Travel
My Return to the Homeland
Introduction by Weekly columnist Stepan Piligian: Andy Daquesian is from the southern Connecticut area and active in the Armenian community. A longtime contributor to the metro New York area, he is also very dedicated to […]
Travel
Building New Memories in Armenia
This past summer, my wife June and I traveled to Armenia. As I sat to recount this unbelievably rewarding trip, I found myself at a loss. What is the message I want to convey to […]
Travel
First Impressions: Part VI
Worry. Fear. Topics of a few conversations as I sit at Lake Sevan with Musical Armenia Project attendees. “I don’t have time to worry about church and things like that.” “I don’t have enough faith […]
Travel
Discovering Armenian Architecture in the Province of Sepastia
Continuing my journey in search of truth and authenticity, I reached Gürün in the Sepastia (Sivas) province back in 2018. The Sepastia province was heavily populated by Armenians before the 1915 Genocide, not only the […]
Photography
Through the Mountains to Meghri
Three weeks ago we went to Meghri. It’s the southernmost town in Armenia. It was my first time. Meghri has been a place that I have been wanting to visit for years, mostly because whenever […]
Travel
Discovering Magaravank
Continuing my quest for truth about the origins of the world, I visited Magaravank (Sourp Magar) Armenian Monastery in Cyprus in April 2018. I took a taxi to the idyllic Pentadaktylos mountain range over Kyrenia […]
Travel
Excerpts from ‘Ghosts of the Genocide’
High on a Mountain Outside Muradiye, Turkey, 2019 We’re cruising down the highway, looking at an occasional cow attempting to graze on the pavement or sometimes trotting along, insisting the highway, originally a field, should […]
Travel
The Final Hours of Artsakh as We Know It: A Diasporan’s Journey
KASHATAGH/STEPANAKERT, Artsakh – Imagine having to hand deliver the key to an Armenian church from Kashatagh to the parish priest in Goris because you may have potentially been the last Armenian to visit before the […]
Travel
The Ancient Armenian Land of Artsakh
Continuing the search for authenticity, truth and the origins of the world, I visited the ancient Armenian land of Artsakh several years ago and studied some of its numerous exquisite ancient Armenian monuments. I was […]