On a small hill on the otherwise quite dull Ararat plain stands the monastery of Khor Virap. There are only 33km from there to the 5165m high Mt Ararat, and since the plain is roughly at 900m above see level, the biblical mountain looks like a giant.
Khop Virap means "deep dungeon". It is not very interesting architecturally, but its historical significance is huge: this is the place where King Trdat III imprisoned St Gregory the Illuminator. It is still possible to visit the deep shaft where he was imprisoned for 13 years. King Trdat eventually released Gregory when he declared Christianity the state religion.