Beau Monde Service & Travel Agency

The Armenian Alphabet - One of the most important events in the history of Armenia was the creation of the Armenian alphabet in 405 AD. Before that, for about 16 hundred years, various forms of cuneiforms had been used in Armenia. After the adoption of Christianity as the state religion of Armenia in 301 AD, the Church considered the old systems of writing inappropriate for religious use. At the end of the fourth century there were several attempts to adjust the old systems of writing to the needs of the Church, but they all failed, because the proposed versions did not correspond to the phonetic system of the language.

At Vramshapuh’s request prominent scholar Mesrop Mashtots made another attempt. He travelled to Alexandria, the biggest cultural and scientific centre of  the time, and studied there various principles of writing.As a conclusion the Greek alphabet was chosen for being the most advanced one of that time,and having one letter for each sound and being easy to memorise. So Mesrop Mashtots created an alphabet which followed the principle of  ‘one letter for one sound' and was written from left to right and had capital letters, unlike all other languages of Eastern Anatolia and the Middle East, mostly written from right to left and had no capitals.
In 405 Mesrop Mashtots returned to Armenia, bringing with him the 36 new letters of the Armenian alphabet.The first words written in Armenian sounded as “To learn wisdom and exhortation,to understand sayings of reason”.
The same year the Bible was translated anew and re-written in the new alphabet. The Armenian translation of the Bible, which contains more words than the Hebrew and Greek originals, was so perfect that it soon came to be known as the 'Queen of Translations'. The new alphabet gave birth to a boom in literature, and the fifth century was considered the 'Golden Age of Armenian Literature'.
The alphabet created by Mesrop Mashtots was so perfect that it has withstood the centuries without any essential changes.

Cross Stones - The Armenian master craftsmen were generational builders .The traditions and the secrets of the craft were passed from generation to generation, from father to son.
Khachkar or Cross Stone is a unique manifestation of Armenian national art which, in its form and type, has no other equivalent in the world.

Khachkars were hand crafted by talented Armenian master craftsmen, who transformed inorganic material into living symbols of Sacredness and Devotion.
In fact, the history of  Armenian  khachkars goes back to early times.Vishapakar or the Dragon Stone, simbol of fertility and the Generative power of Life (Divine Essence of The Cosmic Ocean of Life) was usually placed near lakes,rivers and water wells.
Recently, in a sign of respect and gratitude by the international community,
one of the medieval khachkars of Armenia has been moved and placed in the front entrance of the Main Hall of the United Nations in New York.