Travel is a beautiful thing. The names of cities can evoke feelings of indescribable excitement, pangs of romance that ignite fires within and inspire jaunts to distant lands. Yerevan is the first place that comes to mind when considering such things, a city of history and culture that confounds description, that makes a mockery rehashed cliches like ‘east meets west’ and ‘melting pot of cultures’. Yerevan is Yerevan, it cannot be anything else.

It is the heart of a defiant nation. Armenia has had a rough time of it over the centuries but it remains as fiercely proud today as it always has. It is the oldest Christian nation in the world and one surrounded by occasionally volatile neighbours. It has always had to fight and it isn’t afraid to stand up for itself. This is tangible around Yerevan, the modern day centre of Armenian life.

But that isn’t to say that the city is all defiance, far from it, this is a place that knows how to let its hair down and get rowdy in the process. The cafe scene is magnificent, matched by the fun that comes when the sun goes down, and the city’s culinary options make it one of the world’s most underrated foodie destinations. Your tastebuds are in for a great time in Yerevan, and you’ll find yourself all sorts of inspired along the way.

Further inspiration comes from the museums, the galleries, the monuments, the limestone staircases, the strange man-made cellar caves, the apricots, the cognac, the occasional blasts of System of a Down’s eponymous debut album, the Kardashians, the history and the unbelievable views of Mount Ararat, as apt a symbol of Armenia as you’ll find. Yerevan is Yerevan, it cannot be anything else.