80 Facts About Yerevan

One theory regarding the origin of Yerevan's name is the city was named after the Armenian king, Yervand IV, the last ruler of Armenia from the Orontid dynasty, and founder of the city of Yervandashat.

Principal symbol of Yerevan is Mount Ararat, which is visible from any area in the capital.

On 27 September 2004, Yerevan adopted an anthem, "Erebuni-Yerevan", using lyrics written by Paruyr Sevak and set to music composed by Edgar Hovhannisyan.

Territory of Yerevan has been inhabited since approximately the 2nd half of the 4th millennium BCE.

Archaeological evidence, such as a cuneiform inscription, indicates that the Urartian military fortress of Erebuni was founded in 782 BCE by the orders of King Argishti I at the site of modern-day Yerevan, to serve as a fort and citadel guarding against attacks from the north Caucasus.

Related searches

In 658 AD, at the height of the Arab Islamic invasions, Erebuni-Yerevan was conquered during the Muslim conquest of Persia, as it was part of Persian-ruled Armenia.

However, Yerevan did not have any strategic role during the reign of the Bagratids, who developed many other cities of Ayrarat, such as Shirakavan, Dvin, and Ani.

Thus, Yerevan became the main economic, cultural and administrative centre in Armenia.

Yerevan served as the seat of the newly formed Armenian Oblast between 1828 and 1840.

At that period, Yerevan was a small town with narrow roads and alleys, including the central quarter of Shahar, the Ghantar commercial centre, and the residential neighbourhoods of Kond, Dzoragyugh, Nork and Shentagh.

However, the first major plan of Yerevan was adopted in 1856, during which, Saint Hripsime and Saint Gayane women's colleges were founded and the English Park was opened.

In 1874, Zacharia Gevorkian opened Yerevan's first printing house, while the first theatre opened its doors in 1879.

On 1 October 1879, Yerevan was granted the status of a city through a decree issued by Alexander II of Russia.

In general, Yerevan rapidly grew under Russian rule, both economically and politically.

Yerevan served as the centre of the governorate until 1917, when Erivan governorate was dissolved with the collapse of the Russian Empire.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Yerevan was a small city with a population of 30, 000.

Subsequently, Yerevan became the capital and the center of the newly founded Republic of Armenia, although the members of the Armenian National Council were yet to stay in Tiflis until their arrival in Yerevan to form the government in the summer of the same year.

At the time, Yerevan received more than 75, 000 refugees from Western Armenia, who escaped the massacres perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks during the Armenian genocide.

Yerevan had opened representatives in Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Serbia, Greece, Iran and Japan.

However, after the short period of independence, Yerevan fell to the Bolsheviks, and Armenia was incorporated into Soviet Russia on 2 December 1920.

Under the Soviet rule, Yerevan became the first among the cities in the Soviet Union for which a general plan was developed.

The "General Plan of Yerevan" developed by the academician Alexander Tamanian, was approved in 1924.

Yerevan's design presented a radial-circular arrangement that overlaid the existing city and incorporated much of its existing street plan.

Many of the districts around central Yerevan were named after former Armenian communities that were destroyed by the Ottoman Turks during the Armenian genocide.

In 1965, during the commemorations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Yerevan was the location of a demonstration, the first such demonstration in the Soviet Union, to demand recognition of the Genocide by the Soviet authorities.

Related searches

Yerevan played a key role in the Armenian national democratic movement that emerged during the Gorbachev era of the 1980s.

Since 2000, central Yerevan has been transformed into a vast construction site, with cranes erected all over the Kentron district.

In July 2016, a group of armed men calling themselves the Daredevils of Sassoun stormed a police station in Erebuni District of Yerevan, taking several hostages, demanding the release of opposition leader Jirair Sefilian and the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan.

Yerevan is located on the banks of the Hrazdan River, northeast of the Ararat Plain, in the central-western part of the country.

Yerevan is a densely built city but still offers several public parks throughout its districts, graced with mid-sized green gardens.

Yerevan Lake is an artificial reservoir opened in 1967 on Hrazdan riverbed at the south of the city centre, with a surface of 0.

Each administrative district of Yerevan has its own public park, such as the Buenos Aires Park and Tumanyan Park in Ajapnyak, Komitas Park in Shengavit, Vahan Zatikian Park in Malatia-Sebastia, David Anhaght Park in Kanaker-Zeytun, the Family Park in Avan, and Fridtjof Nansen Park in Nor Nork.

Yerevan has been the capital of Armenia since the independence of the First Republic in 1918.

In 1991 with the independence of Armenia, Yerevan continued with its status as the political and cultural centre of the country, being home to all the national institutions: the Government House, the National Assembly, the Presidential Palace, the Central Bank, the Constitutional Court, all ministries, judicial bodies and other government organizations.

Yerevan received the status of a city on 1 October 1879, upon a decree issued by Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

Yerevan is divided into twelve "administrative districts" each with an elected leader.

Originally a small town, Yerevan became the capital of Armenia and a large city with over one million inhabitants.

Until the fall of the Soviet Union, the majority of the population of Yerevan were Armenians with minorities of Russians, Kurds, Azerbaijanis and Iranians present as well.

The population of Yerevan fell from 1, 250, 000 in 1989 to 1, 103, 488 in 2001 and to 1, 091, 235 in 2003.

Yerevan was inhabited first by Armenians and remained homogeneous until the 15th century.

Thus, the ethnic makeup of Yerevan became more monoethnic during the first 3 decades in the Soviet Union.

Yerevan is currently home to the largest Armenian church in the world, the Cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator.

The 18th-century Blue Mosque of Yerevan was restored and reopened in the 1990s, with Iranian funding, and is currently the only active mosque in Armenia, mainly serving Iranian Shia visitors.

Yerevan is home to tiny Yezidi, Molokan, Neopagan, Baha'i and Jewish communities, with the Jewish community being represented by the Jewish Council of Armenia.

Yerevan is a major healthcare and medical service centre in the region.

Related searches

Several hospitals of Yerevan, refurbished with modern technologies, provide healthcare and conduct medical research, such as Shengavit Medical Center, Erebouni Medical Center, Izmirlian Medical Center, Saint Gregory the Illuminator Medical Center, Nork-Marash Medical Center, Armenia Republican Medical Center, Astghik Medical Center, Armenian American Wellness Center, and Mkhitar Heratsi Hospital Complex of the Yerevan State Medical University.

Yerevan is Armenia's principal cultural, artistic, and industrial center, with a large number of museums, important monuments and the national public library.

Yerevan is home to a large number of museums, art galleries and libraries.

Cafesjian Museum of Art within the Yerevan Cascade is an art centre opened on 7 November 2009.

Charents Museum of Literature and Arts opened in 1921, Modern Art Museum of Yerevan opened in 1972, and the Middle East Art Museum opened in 1993, are among the notable art museums of the city.

On 6 June 2010, Yerevan was named as the 2012 World Book Capital by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Yerevan is one of the historic centers of traditional Armenian carpet.

Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art founded in 1992 in Yerevan, is a creativity centre helping to exchange experience between professional artists in an appropriate atmosphere.

The state-run Tagharan Ensemble of Yerevan founded in 1981 and currently directed by Sedrak Yerkanian, performs ritual and ancient Armenian music.

Yerevan is home to many theatre groups, mainly operating under the support of the ministry of culture.

In March 1924, the first Armenian film studio; Armenfilm was opened in Yerevan, starting with a documentary film called Soviet Armenia.

Yerevan is home to many movie theatres including the Moscow Cinema, Nairi Cinema, Hayastan Cinema, Cinema Star multiplex cinemas of the Dalma Garden Mall, and the KinoPark multiplex cinemas of Yerevan Mall.

The Swan Lake of the Yerevan Opera is the most popular venue for the Vardavar celebrations.

Yerevan launched its first annual wine festivals known as the Yerevan Wine Days in May 2016.

Many of the structures of Yerevan had been destroyed either during foreign invasions or as a result of the devastating earthquake in 1679.

Erebuni Fortress, known as Arin Berd, is the hill where the city of Yerevan was founded in 782 BCE by King Argishti I The remains of other structures from earlier periods are found in Shengavit.

Originally a suburb at the north of Yerevan, Avan was eventually absorbed by the city's gradual expansion.

Katoghike Church; a medieval chapel in the centre of Yerevan, built in 1264, is one of the best preserved churches of the city.

Yerevan Opera Theater or the Armenian National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre opened in 1933, is a major landmark in the city along with the Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran opened in 1959, and Tsitsernakaberd monument of the Armenian genocide opened in 1967.

Yerevan is served by the Zvartnots International Airport, located 12 kilometres west of the city center.

Related searches

Public transport in Yerevan is heavily privatized and mostly handled by around 60 private operators.

Yerevan has a single central railway station that is connected to the metro via the Sasuntsi Davit station.

The industry of Yerevan is quite diversified including chemicals, primary metals and steel products, machinery, rubber products, plastics, rugs and carpets, textiles, clothing and footwear, jewellery, wood products and furniture, building materials and stone-processing, alcoholic beverages, mineral water, dairy product and processed food.

Many subsidiaries of Russian service companies and banks operate in Yerevan, including Gazprom, Ingo Armenia, Rosgosstrakh and VTB Bank.

Location of Yerevan itself, is an inspiring factor for the foreigners to visit the city in order to enjoy the view of the biblical mount of Ararat, as the city lies on the feet of the mountain forming the shape of a Roman amphitheatre.

International study conducted by Mercer and published in 2019 identified Yerevan to offer higher quality of living, than other capital cities of Transcaucasia.

Yerevan is home to about 50 universities, nearly half of which are public.

Under the Soviet rule, Yerevan has turned into a major centre for science and research.

Football Academy of Yerevan operated by the Football Federation of Armenia is an up-to-date training academy complex, opened in 2010.

The Yerevan-born leader of the chess national team; Levon Aronian, is one of the top chess players in the world.

Yerevan is represented by 4 clubs: Engineer Yerevan, FIMA Basketball, BC Grand Sport and BC Urartu.

Yerevan has many state-owned schools of artistic gymnastics, including the Albert Azaryan School opened in 1964 and the Hrant Shahinyan School opened in 1965.

In September 2015, the new Olympic Training Complex of Yerevan, locally known as Olympavan, was opened in Davtashen District.

The Yerevan Velodrome is an outdoor track cycling venue with international standard, opened in 2011 to replace the old venue of the Soviet days.

Currently, Futsal Club Leo based in Yerevan, is considered as the most successful team in the Armenian Futsal Premier League.