armenia a country and its people

1

ARMENIAA COUNTRY AND

THE PEOPLE

A gu idebook

Yerevan1999

2

Authors:

Konstantin Khudaverdyan

Yeghishe Sargsyan

Translation by

Artashes Emin

Armenia, A country and the people,A guidebook. � Yerevan, V. Movsessian,1999 � p. 204.

Publisher:

© Vera Movsessian, 1999

AraM

© �ENCYCLOPAEDIA-ARMENICA� Ltd

17 Toumanian Street, Yerevan

3

To the guests of Armenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7The flag of the Republic of Armenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8The coat of arms of the Republic of Armenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9The national anthem of the Republic of Armenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Natural environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Armenians and the Armenian language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

From the depth of centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

The Armenian Apostolic Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

The Republic of Armenia today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63State organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63The Constitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63The President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63The National Assembly (Parliament) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64The cabinet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65The Constitutional Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Administrative division.

Territorial governance and local self-administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68The provinces of Armenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69The communities of the city of Yerevan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70The judiciary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70State holidays and remembrance days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Armenia on the international scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Membership to international organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Diplomatic missions of foreign states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Representations of international organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Embassies of the Republic of Armenia abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Permanent missions to international organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

The economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84The social sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

INDEX

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Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Culture and sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Fine arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Cinematography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101The capital city of the Republic of Armenia Yerevan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Some background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Parks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Monuments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Historical and architectural monuments of Armenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Armavir province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Ararat province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Kotayk province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Aragatsotn province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Shirak province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135Lori province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Tavoush province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140Gegharkounik province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142Vayots Dzor province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Sunik province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Armenians in the contemporary world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Miscellaneous data and useful tidbits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153The rights and obligations of foreign nationals

in the Republic of Armenia, the procedure for entryand exit, residence permits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Business information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Transport and communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Air connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Distances from Yerevan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165Time zone chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

INDEX

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Railways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167Highways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Highway mileage to Yerevan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Yerevan City transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Transport terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Underground stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Telecommunications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Domestic area codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Country codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Long distance phone tariffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177Mail tariffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177Domestic mail codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Tourism, hotels, resorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179Yerevan hotels: a directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180Armenian resorts and spas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181The climate. Clothing. Traditional costumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182The Armenian alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184Survival lexicon in the Armenian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Spelling of Armenian numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187On Armenian cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188Traditional bread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Description of traditional meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190Armenian fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192Armenian wines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Armenian cognacs (brandies) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Gastronomic glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195Miscellaneous reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200Public offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200Creative associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202Yerevan churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202Sports facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202Farmers� markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203Emergency numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203City information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

INDEX

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We take the liberty to surmise that a foreigner, upon deciding to visitArmenia, already possesses certain information on the country, its nature,attractions, its people. This is the very information that, even though itmay be fragmented and superficial, motivates an outlander to undertakea trip to Armenia to come to know this ancient land, its culture, its pastand its present better. We want to assist our potential guests by offeringthem a brief necessary background on Armenia and the Armenians. This

GUIDE compiles what we think is essential: a history of the Armenianpeople in a nutshell, the state organization, the economy, science and cul-ture of present-day Armenia, its attractions as well as some useful advicefor the visitors to our country.

TO THE GUESTS OF ARMENIA

The Ararat valley

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Republic of Armenia � Hayastany HanrapetoutyunArmenia � Hayastan

Independence day: September 21, 1991 (the day of the referendum)

Constitution: adopted through a referendum on July 5, 1995

Flag: tricolor, horizontal stripes of (from top to bottom) red, blueand orange

Coat of arms: the restored coat of arms of the First Republic(1918�1920)

National Anthem: Mer Hayrenik � Our Fatherland

System of governance: presidential

Capital city: Yerevan

Administrative division: Eleven provinces (including the capitalcity of Yerevan that possesses a status of a province)

Currency unit: dram, introduced in 1993, one dram = 100 lumas

Geographic coordinates: on the South: 38o 50' Northern latitude;on the North: 41o 20' Northern latitude; on the West: 43o 30' EasternLongitude; on the East: 46o 00' Eastern Longitude

Neighbouring countries: on the North: Georgia; on the East:Azerbaijan; on the South: Iran; on the SouthWest: Nakhijevan(Azerbaijan); on the West: Turkey

Territory: 29,74 thousand square kilometers

Average altitude above sea level: 1,800 meters

Highest mountain peak: Aragats (4,090 meters)

Lowest altitude: 380 meters in the Debed canyon

Biggest natural freshwater reservoir: lake Sevan (1,897 metersabove sea level, 81 meters at its deepest)

Land: cultivable � 3.2%, pastures � 29.8%, forests � 12%, drylands� 17.8%, alpine � 37.2%

Climate: dry continental

Population: 3,766.4 thousand (as of 1996)

Average population density: 125 per square kilometer

GENERAL INFORMATION

8

Population breakdown (as of 1995): urban � 67.5%, rural � 32.5%,female � 51.5%, male � 48.5%, 16 years of age and under � 32.5%, be-tween 17 and 59 years of age � 56.2%, 60 and over years of age � 11.3%

Ethnic breakdown: Armenians � 96%, minorities: Russians, Ezidis,Kurds, Assyrians, Greeks, Ukrainians, Jews and others

Language: Armenian

Religion: Christian

Church: Armenian Apostolic

Religious centre: St. Ejmiatsin, the Cathedral of the ArmenianApostolic Church and the residence of the Catholicos (Patriarch) ofall Armenians

Cities: (thousands of people as of 1996)Yerevan 1,249.4 Armavir 46.4 Sevan 28.7Gyumri 211.1 Charentsavan 36.3 Alaverdi 25.3Vanadzor 172.6 Gavar 34.1 Stepanavan 24.9Vagharshapat 64.7 Artashat 34.0 Artik 23.7Hrazdan 63.8 Dilijan 30.9 Ararat 21.9Abovyan 61.6 Ashtarak 28.8 Spitak 21.4Kapan 46.7 Goris 28.8 Jermuk 10.3

THE FLAG OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

The law �On the state flag ofthe Republic of Armenia� wasadopted on August 24, 1990, by theSupreme Council of the Republicof Armenia. The state flag is arectangular panel with three equalhorizontal stripes of red, blue and

orange colours (from top to bottom). The proportion of width tolength is 1:2. The state flag is identical in size and colours to thestate flag of the First Armenian republic (1918�1920). The colourred symbolises the blood shed by the Armenian people in itsstruggle for independence, the colour blue symbolises the clear

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sky of Armenia and the colour orange symbolyses the creativedrive of the nation.

THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE REPUBLICOF ARMENIA

The law �On the state coat of arms of theRepublic of Armenia� was adopted on April19, 1992, by the Supreme Council of the Re-public of Armenia. It is a rendition of thecoat of arms of the First Armenian republic(1918�1920) that had been authored by thearchitect, member of the Russian Academyof Fine Arts Alexander Tamanian and artistHakob Kojoyan.

Description of the coat of arms: the central shield of the coat of armsbears the charges of four royal Armenian dynasties: the Artaxids, theArshakids, the Bagratunis and the Rubinyans (the Cilician kingdom). Thesesurround the depiction of mount Ararat with the outline of Noah�s ark rest-ing on the peak. The silver waves of lake Van are at the foot of the moun-tain. The shield is supported by a lion and an eagle that symbolise the spirit,the power, forbearance and valour. A sword at the bottom represents thestruggle of the Armenian people for Freedom and Independence, while thequill and cereal spikes symbolyse its creative talent and peaceful character.

THE ANTHEM OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

�Mer Hayrenik�/�Our Fatherland�

The first and the last quatrains of The Armenian textthe Anthem in the Armenian language: in Roman transliteration:

1. 1.Ø»ñ Ð³Ûñ»ÝÇù, ³½³ï, ³ÝÏ³Ë, Mer Hayrenik, azat, ankah,àñ ³åñ»É ¿ ¹³ñ»¹³ñ, Vor aprel eh daredar,Æñ áñ¹ÇùÁ ³ñ¹ Ï³ÝãáõÙ ¿ Ihr vordikeh ard kanchoom eh²½³ï, ³ÝÏ³Ë Ð³Û³ëï³Ý: Azat, ankah Hayastan.

GENERAL INFORMATION

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4. 4.²Ù»Ý³ÛÝ ï»Õ Ù³ÑÁ ÙÇ ¿, Amenayn teg maheh me eh,Ø³ñ¹ ÙÇ ³Ý·³Ù åÇï Ù»éÝ», Mard me angam pit merneh,´³Ûó »ñ³ÝÇ, áñ Ûáõñ ³½·Ç Bayts yerani, vor your azgi²½³ïáõÃÛ³Ý ÏÁ½áÑíÇ: Azatootyan kezohvi.

Literal translation:1. 4.Our Fatherland, free, independent, Death is the same everywhere,That has lived for centuries, A man dies but once,Is now summoning its sons Blessed is the one hat diesTo the free, independent Armenia. For the freedom of his nation.

The background of the Anthem: By the end of the 19th, beginning of the20th centuries the song �Our Fatherland� inspired thousands of patriots andwas sung by them during heroic battles of the Armenian people for freedomand independence. In 1918, during the days of establishment of the FirstRepublic, �Our Fatherland� became the National Anthem of the Republicof Armenia. The author of the lyrics is poet Mikael Nalbandian (1829�1866).Pursuant to the resolution of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Arme-nia of July 1, 1991, the anthem of the Republic of Armenia of 1918�1920 isadopted as the basis for the national anthem. The text of the anthem hasbeen subjected to changes.

The score of the anthem:

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The Armenian people havelived on the Armenian plateau, avast territory of more than 300thousand square kilometers,stretching over the central andNorthern parts of Asia Minor.The Armenian plateau is boundon the North by the Lesser Cau-casus range and on the South bythe Armenian Taurus range,while on the West it descendsinto the Euphrates valley and onthe East into the Caspian low-land. Almost in the centre is ahuge volcanic massif with twinpeaks: the Greater Ararat (alti-tude: 5156 m above sea level, theArmenians also call it Massis)and the Lesser Ararat (altitude:3914 m above sea level, the Ar-menians also call it Sis). The Ar-menian Range stretches West ofthe Ararat massif, breaking downinto individual mountains. Themountainous system of theLesser Caucasus contains a num-ber of peaks, among whichAragats (altitude: 4095 m) is thehighest on the territory of theRepublic of Armenia. There area number of plains and fertilevalleys within the Armenian pla-teau. The best known amongthese are the Ararat, Moush,

Kharberd, Yerznka, Alashkertand Shirak valleys, that hadplayed a prominent economicrole in the life of the Armenianpeople. The Ararat valley is the

biggest and the most fertileamong these, it has become thecentre of economic, political andcultural life of Armenians. Sev-eral of the capital cities of ancientArmenia: Armavir, Yervanda-shat, Vagharshapat and Dvinwere in the Ararat valley. This iswhere the capital of the currentRepublic of Armenia, the City ofYerevan is, as well as St. Ejmia-tsin, the centre of the ArmenianApostolic Church.

The Armenian plateau is richwith rivers. Here lie the origins ofrivers Euphrates and Tigris withtheir tributaries, flowing into thePersian gulf, as well as of Kuraand Arax, flowing into the

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

Aragats mountain

12

Caspian Sea. The longest river inthe Republic of Armenia is Arax,its tributaries are Akhourian,Hrazdan, Kassakh, Azat and oth-ers. The biggest lakes of the pla-teau are Van, Urmia and Sevan.Lake Van (currently within theterritory of Turkey) was calledTosp in the ancient times or, al-ternatively, the sea of Bznuni. Itssurface stretches over 3,733 sq k.and the water is salty. From timesimmemorial they made salt andfished the famous t a r e k h here,a fish indigenous to lake Van. Theancient name of lake Urmia (cur-rently within the territory of Iran)was Kaputan. Its mirror is 5,800

sq k, fish do not breed in its saltywater. Lake Sevan, called theGeghama sea in the olden times,is one of the largest alpine lakes

in the world (covering approxi-mately 1,400 sq k). Up to twodozen small rivers flow into thelake, while only one flows out ofit, river Hrazdan. The water isfresh, the fish are the i s h k h a n(local trout) and whitefish.

The natural environment andthe climate of the Armenian pla-teau were favourable from timesimmemorial for the settlement ofpeople: first they hunted, thenproceeded to cultivate the land,herd cattle and engage in crafts.The population of the plateaufrom early on grew wheat, grapes,sesame and fruits: apricots,peaches, apples and others. The

Armenian plateau is the home ofsome of these species.

The Armenian plateau is richwith minerals. Armenian and

Lake Sevan

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foreign sources hold that copperore, lead, silver and gold weremined here a long time ago.There also were salt mines. The

population used a diversity ofbuilding materials: basalt, mul-ticoloured tuff, marble, lime-stone.

The fauna of the plateau wasespecially rich in the ancienttimes. Until now the noble deer,the mountain goat, the roe deer,the Armenian moufflon, the boarbreed here. The predators in-clude the wolf, the bear, the fox,the birds include the eagle, thekite, the falcon, the stork, thepheasant, the partridge and oth-ers. The scholars have discoveredsites of primitive men on the Ar-menian plateau as well as evi-dence of their productive activity,which allows to rightfully rankthis region with the most ancientcradles of human civilization.

A Zangezour landscape

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The process of the formationof the Armenian people tookplace in the depth of ages, be-tween the 2nd and 1st millenniaB.C. Which explains why it is of-

ten impossible to reliably andcomprehensively shed light overmany a circumstance in the mak-ing up of the Armenian people.Modern science maintains thatthe process of the formation of theArmenian people has incontest-ably taken place on the Armenianplateau, involving several tribesand associations of tribes thathave gradually converged into asingle nation. The leading role in

this long and mingled process wasreserved to tribes speaking a lan-guage of the Indo-European fam-ily. Local tribes of other languagefamilies (Hurrites, Urartians andothers) have also contributed tothe formation of the Armenianpeople. The scholars single outH a y a s a , a tribal associationthat populated the Armenian pla-teau and, they maintain, has lentits name to the way Armenianscall themselves: H a y (Ñ³Û).

The Armenian plateau is thecradle of Armenians. This cir-cumstance, i.e. the geopoliticalsituation of the Armenian people,has left an imprint on its entirehistory. Living on the junction oftwo worlds, the Asian and theEuropean, the Armenians wereexposed from early on to the cul-tures of the East and the West,and the Armenian culture itselfincorporated many elements ofthese civilizations. The territoryof the Armenian plateau, by vir-tue of its geographic location, hasbeen subjected to the rampage ofconquerors moving from West toEast but even more often � fromEast to West. This fact has mostlypredetermined the patterns and

ARMENIANS AND THE ARMENIANLANGUAGE

Monument in Yerevan to theforefather of Armenians Haik

15

peculiarities of the historical de-velopment of Armenians. Thegeopolitical factor has not lost itssignificance in our days either.

Many factors have affected theformation of Armenian mentality.These may include the tribulationsof Armenian history, the exposure ofthe Armenian people to the propo-nents of Western and Eastern civili-zations, early accession to Christianethics. And although the Armeniansare quite susceptible to cultural pen-etration, they somehow succeeded inpreserving their ingenuity, traditionsof social behaviour and familylifestyles many of which date backmillennia. The Armenian family istraditionally strong, even now di-vorces are a rare occurrence. Thepatriarchal flavour of the Armenianfamily is in that more often than notit comprises three generations livingunder a single roof. Respect towardsthe elders, love and constant care forthe children are all characteristicfeatures. Armenian families withmany children were a common oc-currence in the past, now it is pre-dominantly a rural phenomenonwhile urban families, as a rule, haveone or two children.

Armenians are hospitable, con-vivial people that know how todrink. It is quite a challenge to en-counter a drunk Armenian out inthe street, an intoxicated Armenianprefers to stay home.

Armenians have long beenknown to adapt rapidly to the shift-ing conditions of life, they are hardworking, experienced and lucky intrade matters. Such an appraisal ofthe Armenians has contributed tothe fact that in many countrieswhere Armenians have resettled inview of social hardships in the moth-erland, they have been granted vari-ous privileges up to the right to self-governance. Armenians, especiallythe ones living in alien lands, arecharacterized by a leadership drive.It comes as no accident that in awide range of countries with Arme-nian communities the Armenianshave attained top positions not onlyin the economy or trade, but also onthe social and political scenes. Forexample in the Byzantium of the 9th�11th centuries the ruling dynasty wasthe Macedonian or Armenian whosecrowned representatives were of Ar-menian descent. Throughout diffe-rent centuries Armenians have heldhighest civil and military posts inGeorgia, Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary,Rumania, Egypt and other coun-tries. There are Armenians currentlyknown to play a visible role in theeconomy, politics and culture ofcountries like France, the U.S.A.,Syria, Lebanon etc.

Possessing centuries of experi-ence of living in alien environmentsthe Armenians are not xenophobic,although they do have their own

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assessment of the ways and featuresof national characters of their closeand distant neighbours. Inciden-tally, Armenians are at their mostironic when it comes to themselves.The natives of Van, for example, en-joy the popular perception of beingclosefisted, the Gyumri people arethe witty ones while the natives ofLori are the simple-minded etc.This typology, often groundless,usually sticks for good, gets downfrom one generation to another andfinds its reflection in folklore andliterature.

It is believed that Armenians findit difficult to abide by common rulesand aspire to do it their way even insituations that are not asking for it.This is not a totally unwarrantedstatement, suffice it to observe for awhile the behaviour of motorists andpedestrians in the streets of Arme-nian cities to get reassured: both theformer and the latter are not happywith traffic rules.

The Armenian language is ofthe Indo-European family, repre-senting a stand � alone ramifica-tion of the family with one of theoldest scripts. The Armenianscript was created at the begin-ning of the 5th century by StMesrob Mashtots, it has sincebecome the solid foundation forthe national language and cul-ture. The written legacy of Ar-

menians adds up to over 25 thou-sand manuscripts currently pre-served in the Yerevan Matenada-ran � the Institute of AncientManuscripts named after the in-ventor of the Armenian script, aswell as in the depositories and li-braries of Jerusalem, Vienna,Venice, London and other loca-tions.

Monument to the Armenian scriptin Oshakan

Armenian medieval manuscript

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Ancient Armenianstates

The history of Armenian state-hood adds up to over three mil-lennia, dating back to the historyof Urartu (the Araratian king-dom), a powerful state, a peer andrival of Assyria. A multitude ofmonuments of the Urartian pe-riod has survived on the territoryof the Armenian plateau, theirstudy by archaeologists allowed toarrive at a perception of the his-tory, state organization and theculture of this once powerful state.Following the decline of Urartuby the end of the 7th century B.C.the ancient Armenian kingdomemerged on its ruins, ruled by thekings of the Yervandouni (Oron-tid) dynasty. Shortly thereafter theArmenian kingdom fell under thedomination of the Persian state ofAchaemenids. By the end of the4th century B.C. the situation inAsia Minor had changed radi-cally: the troops of Alexander theGreat have invaded from the Westand crushed the Achaemenidkingdom, they conquered AsiasMinor and Central, as well as In-dia. The colossal empire of

Alexander the Great emerged asa result. But even before that Ar-menia broke into two parts: TheGreater Armenia (comprisingmost of the Armenian Plateau)and Lesser Armenia (the terri-tory of Upper Euphrates). LesserArmenia became a part of Alex-ander�s Empire, while GreaterArmenia restored its indepen-dence and descendants of theYervandouni continued to reignthere. Following the collapse ofthe empire of Alexander theGreat Armenia was included inthe state of the Seleucids, one ofthe Hellenistic countries thatemerged over the ruins of Alex-ander�s Empire. Hellenism had agreat impact on the socio-eco-nomic and cultural life of theArmenian society. Through thistime the highly developed an-cient Greek civilization came intocontact with the local cultures ofAsia Minor, including Arme-nians. As a result of this Arme-nian culture of the period com-bines elements of Western as wellas Eastern civilizations.The po-litical structures of the Arme-nian society were also affected by

FROM THE DEPTH OF CENTURIESA brief survey of the history and culture of Armenia

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Hellenistic influence. In the be-ginning of the 2nd century B.C. aunited Armenian kingdom cameinto being. The king of GreaterArmenia Artashes I (189�160B.C.), the founder of the Artaxid

dynasty, converged into a unitedstate most of the Armenian-popu-lated lands of the Armenian pla-teau. The state of the Artaxidsreached the peak of its might dur-ing the reign of Tigranes II theGreat (95�55 B.C.). Armenia sub-stantially expanded its bound-aries, exceeding the patterns of itsethnic settlements. For sometime it succeeded in withstandingthe agression of Rome towardsthe East. Nevertheless Rome fi-nally took over and forced apeace treaty over Armenian, pur-suant to which it had to give upall of its acquisitions.

Armenia between Romeand Parthia

The confrontation that emer-ged between Rome and Parthia(ancient Iran) created a new po-litical situation for Armenia thatpersisted for many centuries tocome: Armenia had to take carefirst and foremost of the preser-vation of its independence and ter-ritorial integrity, making a choicebetween conflicting powers. Theterritory of Armenia often be-came an arena of military con-frontation. The Artaxid dynastyphased out in the 1st century B.C.The crisis of the ancient Armeniastate was overcome in the middleof the 1st century A.C. when, onthe background of an Armeno-Parthian treaty the throne of Ar-menia was taken by Tiridates, thebrother of the Parthian kingVagharsh I from the dynasty ofArshakuni (Arsacids). Tiridates Ibecame the founder of the newdynasty of Arsacids in Armenia.Important events took place whilethe dynasty was in power: thecountry embarked on the periodof development of feudal rela-tions, it adopted Christianity andthe Armenian script was created.The period of relative stability

A coin minted by Tigran the Great

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was soon to be over. In 387 Ar-menia was divided between Romeand Iran. The situation thatemerged carried on through cen-turies to come: a division of Ar-menia into Western and Easternsections. The borer between thetwo was constantly shifting de-pending on which of the dividingpowers took over in their evercontinuing confrontation.

Culture of ancient Armenia

The formation of ancient Arme-nian culture enjoyed the input of

both the dwellers of the Armenianplateau and those ancient societiesand countries with which the Arme-nians had long maintained contact.At the earliest stages of its develop-ment ancient Armenian culture wassingled out by its perceptiveness to-wards the cultural accomplishmentsof other peoples. This feature of an-cient Armenian culture becamemost salient during the Hellenisticperiod. Being a culture of a higherorder, Hellenism nevertheless didnot level out local Armenian culture,while leaving a deep impact on thelatter. In material culture the Helle-nistic influence is most apparent in

The fortress and temple of Garni

FROM THE DEPTH OF CENTURIES

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urban planning and architecture.Ancient authors have left us descrip-tions of magnificent Armenian ca-ptals of the Hellenistic period:

Artashat and Tigranocert. The ar-chaeological excavations in Artashatundertaken in our times have at-tested to this depictions.

The best known monument ofthe Hellenistic period in Armenia isthe heathen temple in Garni, builtin the 1st century. It comes to provethe high mastery of local architectsand builders. No less interesting isthe fortress of Garni that allows toform a perception about the fortifi-cations in ancient Armenia.

The heathen religion was an im-portant component of ancient Arme-nian culture, it underwent certainchanges prior to the spread of Chris-tianity. The Armenian heathen pan-

theon was headed by H a y k, whowas considered to be the forefatherof Armenians. Other gods that wereworshipped included A r a (there isa beautiful legend about Ara theHandsome and the Assyrian QueenSemiramis) and To r k (the legendholds that he was a giant prone tokindly deeds). Later under Hellenis-tic influence the Armenian heathengods assume certain new functions.A r a m a z d takes over as the prin-cipal god, A n a h i t becomes the pa-tron of the country, Va h a g n be-comes the god of war, T i r that ofwisdom and script, while A s t r i kis the goddess of love and so on.There were numerous temples to paytribute to these gods, their deedswere reflected in myths and tales.

Ancient sources have preservedinformation about the theatre arts inArmenia. It is known that TigranesII had built in his capital city of Tig-ranocert a theatre where Greek ac-tors used to perform. His successorking Artavazd II offered his royalpalace in Artashat for theatrical per-formances. Greek pieces as well astragedies written by Artavazd him-self were performed there. KingArtavazd II is rightfully consideredto be the first Armenian playwright,which entitled him to be cast instone in a bas-relief of the pedimentof the building of the ArmenianAcademic Drama Company inYerevan.

The sculpted head of Anahit,goddess of maternity and fertility

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Even prior to the Hellenistic the-atre ritual pageants, popular gamesand festivities held at city squareswere commonplace in Armenia.

The culture of ancient Armeniabecame the foundation upon whichthe formidable building of Arme-nian national culture was erected insubsequent historical periods.

Conversion of the Armenianpeople into Christianity

A pivotal event in the historyof the Armenian people, the adop-tion of Christianity, took placeduring the reign of the Arsacids.The first Christian communitieshad emerged in Armenia back inthe 1st century, Christianity hadcome to Armenian from the Southfrom Syria and from the Westfrom Lesser Armenia and Cappa-docia. The church tradition tiesthe spread of Christianity in Ar-menia with the efforts of theapostles Thaddaeus and Bartho-lomew that have brought the lightof the Bible into Armenia (theland of Ararat, as in the Scrip-tures). Initially king Tiridates IIIthe Great (298�330 A.D.) severelypersecuted the first Christians.Soon thereafter the ruling class ofArmenia, as in other countries, re-alized that the ideas of Christian-

ity may be successfully used inthe interests of central authoritiesand the treatment of Christianitychanged radically. The traditionaldate for the adoption of Christian-ity in Armenia is 301 A.D. More-over, Tiridates banned the hea-then faith and proclaimed Chris-tianity to be the sole official reli-gion of his kingdom. Armeniathus became one of the first coun-tries where Christianity was ac-knowledged as a state religion.The church that was establishedthrough the preachers and en-dorsed through the martyrdom ofthe Apostles became known as the�Holy Armenian ApostolicChurch�.

The first Patriarch (Catholi-cos) of the Armenian church wasGregory of Partev, whom thechurch holds to be the second(following the Apostles) illumi-nator of the Armenians, laterGregory the Illuminator wascanonized by the Armenianchurch.

The adoption of Christianity lefta powerful impact on the subsequenthistory of the Armenian people. TheChristian faith provided an impetusfor the further development of en-lightenment and culture. Christianethics became the basis for the Ar-menian outlook, left an immutable


22

imprint on the spiritual makeup andthe psyche of the nation. Along withthat the Armenian church came toplay a salient role in the life of theArmenian society, especially afterthe loss of statehood. The statutes ofthe Armenian church regulatedmany aspects of the lives of Arme-nians, the church had assumed someof the functions of the state, it was asolid support in the centuries-longstruggle of the Armenian people topreserve its ingenuity.

Eastern Armenia in the5th century. Struggle against

Persian domination

Eastern Armenia, having lostits sovereignty, became a part ofthe Sassanid Iran, but it pre-served certain institutes of self-governance as well as the socialstatus of landowners, the n a -k h a r a r s. Eastern Armenia hadits own army under the commandof the s p a r a p e t. Initially thePersian authorities were quite tol-erant towards the Armenianchurch as well.

Nevertheless towards themiddle of the 5th century thesituation changed. Iran increasedthe taxes on the population ofEastern Armenia and began thepractice of appointing Persians toleading posts in the country. The

former tolerance towards theChristian faith of the Armenianswas replaced by an urge to con-vert them to M a z d e i s m, abranch of Z o r o a s t r i a n i s mprofessed in Iran. This claim wasjeopardizing the preservation ofthe specialness of Armenians.

In the Spring of 450 the Per-sian authorities attempted toforce Armenians to convert. Apopular uprising was the re-sponse. Armenians nakhararslacked unity, though: the propo-nents of drastic action convergedaround sparapet Vardan Mami-konian, while m a r z p a n (Per-sian-appointed ruler of the coun-try) Vassak Suny assumed a stall-ing position and subsequentlywent over to the Persians alongwith his supporters.

On May 26, 451, the decisivebattle was waged on the Avarayrplain Southeast of the Araratmountain. Before the battle VardanMamikonian addressed his warriorswith the following words that laterbecame the motto of many genera-tions of Armenian freedom fight-ers: �Unconscious death is deathindeed, apprehended death is im-mortality�. Both parties foughtfiercely and incurred great losses.Vardan Mamikonian and many ofhis comrades-in-arms fell in action.

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According to an eye-witness histo-rian Yeghishe there were neitherwinners, nor losers in this battle.The resistance of the Armenianscarried on through the end of 451,but the uprising was suppressed.Nevertheless the rugged struggle ofArmenians made the Persians settle

for concessions, ease the tax burdenand, what was most important, letgo of the intention to convert Ar-menians into Zoroastrian faith. Thebattle of Avarayr wend down in thehistory of the Armenian people asone of the heroic pages of nationalliberation struggle.

Central part of Grigor Khanjian�s painting �Vardanank�(�The Battle of Avarayr�)


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In 482 a new uprising againstthe Persians caught on. It washeaded by sparapet Vahan Ma-mikonian, the cousin of Vardan.The struggle went on with inter-mittent success, but in 484 therebels succeeded in negotiatingadvantageous terms of armistice,which was concuded in thesettlement of Nvarsak. Theseterms essentially meant the res-toration of self-governance ofArmenia.

Armenia under the rule ofArab caliphates

The 7th century was markedby new changes in the politicalsituation of Asia Minor as a re-sult of Arab conquests. The Ar-abs created a powerful state, theCaliphate, cemented by uniformreligion, the Islam, and in the 30sand 40s of the 7th century theystruck a few blows on Iran, con-quered its central and Westernregions, took over Mesopotamia,Syria, Palestine and Egypt. TheArabs came into contact with theByzantine empire and won sev-eral victories over their troops butstopped short of toppling the em-pire. In 610 the Arabs enteredEastern Armenia for the first timeand shortly thereafter established

their rule there. Armenian histo-rians of the time recount thegrave situation of the Armenianpeople under the rule of the Arabcaliphate: the onerous tax bur-den, the religious persecution.The ever-increasing suppressioncaused the wrath of the peopleand revolts against the Arab yoke.The first tremors took place in703, they were followed by theuprisings of 747�50 and 771�75.The liberation struggle was led bythe nakharars, the most influen-tial among whom were theMamikonians and theBagratunis. The rivalry betweenthese two clans outgrew into en-mity, but the Bagratunis finallytook over.

The most negative conse-quence of Arab rule was thechanges they brough into the eth-nic composition of the country.The Arabs settled down on sub-stantial parts of the Armenian ter-ritory, displacing the local popu-lation. Under the Arabs beganthe exodus of Armenians fromtheir historical homeland and itremained a characteristic featureof subsequent history of the Ar-menian people. Failing to with-stand the heavy social toll, Arme-nians left for the neighbouring

ARMENIA

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Christian countries, Georgia andByzantium. It was to Byzantiumin particular that a significantnumber of nakharars movedalong with their courts. As a re-sult the number of nakharar clansin Armenia fell drastically.

The state of the Bagratids

The struggle of the Armenianpeople against the Arabs suc-ceeded at the end of the 9th cen-tury. The Arab caliphate was at adecline and the nakharar clan ofthe Bagratunis (Bagratids) mana-ged to strengthen its position andshortly proclaimed the indepen-dence of Greater Armenia. A rep-resentative of the clan AshotI became the first king of the newdynasty (886).

Although the Armenian statewas restored under the formername Greater Armenia, theBagratids still failed to bring to-gether under their aegis all of theArmenian lands. Apart fromGreater Armenia, the capital ofwhich became the city of Ani onAkhourian river, there were sev-eral other stand � alone Arme-nian kingdoms and principali-ties. Such divergence was charac-teristic of the feudal society at acertain stage of its development

and it came to the benefit of theByzantine empire that con-ducted a consistent policy of ab-sorption of Armenian lands.

Having existed for just 160years, the state of the Bagratidsleft a visible trace in the historyof the Armenian people. This pe-riod is set aside by a significantincrease in production, develop-ment of trade and urban lifestyles,serious accomplishments in thespiritual domain. On the back-ground of a knotty internationalsituation Armenia succeeded inavoiding major calamities and theprevailing peace contributed tocreative output. In 1045 the capi-tal city of Ani was taken by theByzantians and the last Bagratuniking Gagik II was dethroned andescorted to Byzantium. After thefall of the state of the Bagratids theArmenian statehood on the terri-tory of historical Armenia was re-stored only nine centuries later atthe beginning of the 20th century.

Armenia between the12�17th centuries

The next several centuriesadded up to one of the most direperiods in the history of Arme-nian people. From the secondhalf of the 12th century Armenia


26

succumbed to devastating raidsof successive foreign conquerors:the Seljuk tribes, the Mongols,the hordes of Tamerlane. Allthese conquerors were at a lowerstage of socio-economic and cul-tural development compared toArmenia, for which reason Ar-menia suffered serious setbacksand degradation. Production be-gan to falter, the once flourishingcities were abandoned, the devel-opment of national culture wasstalled. The Armenian peoplespared no efforts to withstand theblows of fate, to survive and tocarry on.

In the second half of the 15thcentury and the beginning of the16th the situation in Asia Minorchanged drastically. The state ofOttoman Turks that had emergedin the middle of the 14th centurycame up with a succession of dev-astating blows on Byzantium. In1453 the Ottoman Turks con-quered Constantinople and theByzantine empire ceased to exist.The Ottoman empire took overits lands, expanded over the ter-ritory of Asia Minor, the BalkanPeninsula and became one of thepowerful players of the time.From the beginning of the 16thcentury the Safavid dynasty came

to power in Iran. Conflictloomed between the two trouble-some neighbours of Armenia.Wars broke out between themthat carried on with intermittentsuccess and intervals. Thesegravely affected the situation ofArmenia that usually was thebattlefield. In 1638 Turkey andIran finally concluded a peacetreaty that once again redrew theborder between them. WesternArmenia was ceded to Turkey,while Eastern Armenia went tothe Iranians. This status quo wasbasically unchanged until the be-ginning of the 19th century.

The Cilician Armeniankingdom

The Cilician Armenian statecame into being in the 11th cen-tury and lasted for three hundredyears, a formidable phenomenonnot only in the history of the Ar-menian people but also in worldhistory. The world history re-cords no other precedent of a na-tion succeeding in building a na-tion-state away from its home-land.

Cilicia was a country on theNortheastern shore of the Mediter-ranean, it was bound on the inlandby several mountain ranges that

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prevented easy access to Cilicia byland. It is most probable that Arme-nians had lived in Cilicia from timesimmemorial, but they only becamedominant in the population later,when several waves of immigrationfrom the territory of historical Ar-menia contributed to a significantincrease of the Armenian populationon Cilicia. The migrants includedrepresentative of nakharar clans whoinitiated the establishment of Arme-nian statehood on the new land.

The founder of the CilicianArmenian state was PrinceRouben, hence the principalityhe created in 1080 was called theRoubenian (Roubenid) principal-ity. During his reign and thereign of his successors the newlycreated principality withstoodthe onslaught of Byzantium thatstrived to put an end to a foreignstate unit on its territory. TheCilician Armenian state reachedits prime in by the end of the12th, beginning of the 13th cen-turies under Levon II, who wasproclaimed king and recognizednot only by a number of Euro-pean courts, but by Byzantiumitself. The rise of the Ciliciankingdom continued through thefirst decades of the rule of thenext dynasty, the Hetoumian(Hetoumids). The Hetoumids es-

tablished relations with theMongols that were knocking atthe doors of Cilicia, they con-cluded a treaty with the latter andthus protected the country fromthe invasion of Mongol hordes.

At the end of the 13th, begin-ning of the 14th centuries theCilician Armenian kingdom en-tered a period of political crisis.The Egyptian Sultanate hadgained in power by then and washarassing Byzantium as well asthe Cilician state. The culmina-tion came during the reign of thelast royal dynasty, the Lucignans(natives of the island of Cyprus).In 1375 the Cilician Armeniankingdom ceased to exist.

Armenian migratorysettlements

In view of the expansion ofArmenian migration in theMiddle Ages Armenian migra-tory settlements and communi-ties emerged in many countries,some of these communities wereentitled to self-governance, hadtheir own judiciary etc.

In the 15th and subsequentcenturies the biggest Armeniansettlement was in Constantinop-le, where Armenians had livedsince the times of the Byzantine


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empire. The Armenian crafts-men, merchants and industrial-ists of Constantinople played aleading role in Turkish foreigntrade and economy. In 1461 theArmenian Patriarchate wasfounded in Constantinople.

From the 11th century Arme-nian settlements began to appearin the Crimea, Armenians settledin the cities of Capha (Theodos-sia), Ak-Mecheti (Simferopol),Surhat (Stary Krym) and others.The Crimean Armenians culti-vated land, grew fruit, many Ar-menian merchants played a sig-nificant role in trading with theWest as well as the East.

Armenian migratory settle-ments also evolved in Syria(Aleppo) and Egypt (Alexandriaand Cairo). The most significantArmenian community in theEast was that of New Julfa (Iran),that was widely known in thecommercial world for its wealthyArmenian trading houses.

There were several major Ar-menian settlements in Russia, themost significant among thesewere the community of Astra-khan (founded in the 16th cen-tury) and the one in Nor Nakhi-jevan (founded at the end of the17th century). Both communities

were self-governing. The first in-formation about Armenians inMoscow pertains to the 14th cen-tury. In subsequent centuries theArmenian community in Mos-cow continued to grow, it builtchurches and settled in down-town quarters. The Armenianpopulation of Moscow weremostly merchants, servicemen,craftsmen and entrepreneurs.

Beginning from the 13th cen-tury Armenian communitiesemerge in Poland. The Arme-nians of Lvov, Kamenets-Po-dolsk, Zamosc, Stanislaus andother cities had their own admin-istrations and judges. The Polishauthorities favoured Armenians,deeming them useful for the de-velopment of crafts and trade.

In the same period Armeniansappeared in Romania, Bulgaria,Hungary, they also settled inItaly, France and other Europeancountries.

Ending up in an alien environ-ment Armenians displayed uniqueperseverance, they defied assimila-tion, preserved their language andcultural traditions. In a certain sensethe spiritual life of Armeniansthroughout the gloomy Middle Ageshad moved to the Armenian settle-ments. It is therefore not accidentalthat such important events as the

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printing of the first book, the publi-cation of the first Armenian periodi-cal or the emergence of theatre com-panies took place within the Arme-nian migratory settlements. The Ar-menian communities in these alsocontributed to the forging of linksbetween Armenians and other na-tions.

Armenian medieval culture

A most important event in thecultural life of the Armenian soci-ety of the early Middle Ages was thedevelopment of the Armenian script.The creation of the national scriptwas determined first of all by the ne-cessity of translating into the Arme-nian language of the Bible andbooks of sermons, since the Arme-nian church strived to ensure the ac-cessibility of the Christian teachingfor its congregations. Apart fromthat the Aramaic, Greek andAssyrian that have been used as thewritten language in Armeniathrough different periods only hadlimited application and were acces-sible exclusively to the elite. It wasapparent that the lack of Armenianscript proper was not only hamper-ing the development of original lit-erature, theological and academicendeavors, but also of the Armenianlanguage itself. The fact that the ideaof creating an Armenian script en-joyed such wide endorsement comesto prove that the Armenian society

of the 4th century had fully under-stood the expediency of it.

The Armenian script was devel-oped by vardapet Mesrob Mashtots(circa 362�440) with the active sup-port of Catholicos Sahak Partev.The Armenian script, created in thebeginning of the 5th century, wasbased by Mesrob Mashtots on theprinciple of matching every pho-neme of the Armenian languagewith a proprietary letter. The factthat the letters thus created havebeen serving the people for the lastsixteen centuries attests thatMashtots solved the problem bril-liantly. Following the developmentof the script Mesrob Mashtots em-

barks with his students on the trans-lation of the Bible into the Arme-nian language and after that foundsschools where children learn Arme-nian. The script became a solidfoundation for the further develop-ment of the Armenian language, it

The Mesrob Mashtots Memorialin Yerevan


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contributed to the formation anddevelopment of genuinely nationalArmenian culture. Since culture assuch was a decisive factor in thepreservation of the singularity ofArmenians, the creation of the Ar-menian script transcends the sig-nificance of a purely cultural event.

Historiography has an impor-tant role in medieval Armenian cul-ture, it had formed by the 5th cen-tury. This century is represented byhistorians Agathangelos, Pavstos

Byuzand and Lazar of Parb. Theirworks shed light on the main eventsof Armenian history, beginning withapproximately the 3rd century: theconversion of Armenians into Chris-tianity, the formation of Armenianstatehood, relations of Armenia withother countries etc. The work of his-torian Korune (5th century) is dedi-cated to the deeds of MesrobMashtots, while his contemporaryYeghishe describes in great detail theuprising of Armenians against Per-sian rule under the leadership ofVardan Mamikonian. The �father ofArmenian historiography� Moses ofKhoren also worked in the 5th cen-tury, his work �History of Armenia�is the summit of medieval Armenianhistorical school of thought. Mosesof Khoren was the first among Ar-menian historians to attempt to laydown a complete history of the Ar-menian people from its emergence tothe author�s time.

The events of the 6th to 8th cen-turies are recounted in the works ofhistorians Sebeos (7th century) andGhevond (8th century). The devel-opment of Armenian historiographycarried on through subsequent cen-turies.

The medieval Armenian histori-ography was completed by the fun-damental work of Mikael Cham-chian, the three volumes of �Thehistory of Armenia� (published bythe end of 18th century). This work

The statue of Movses Khorenatsiin Yerevan

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outlines the history of the Armenianpeople from ancient times to the18th century, and it marked thematuration of Armenian historiog-raphy into a new period of develop-ment.

The Middle Ages is a period ofdevelopment of Armenian theologi-cal and philosophical schools, thetime for philosophical apprehensionof the Christian teaching. The firstworks in this domain were authoredby Mesrob Mashtots and his discipleYeznik of Kolb, who acted as advo-cates of Christianity. The greatestArmenian philosopher of the earlyMiddle Ages was the follower ofneoplatoism David Anhaght (theInvincible), whose works deal withthe fundamental problems of phi-losophy of the time: the theory ofcognizance, logic, aesthetics, inter-pretation of the categories of classi-cal Greek philosophy etc. In the cen-turies to come the struggle of the Ar-menian church for its independenceand against the attempts of Catholi-cism to impose a union on Arme-nians had a significant impact on thedevelopment of Armenian theologi-cal and philosophical schools. Ar-menian theologians and philoso-phers protected in their works thenational church and its teaching.

Medieval Armenian scholarswere interested in a wide scope ofnatural sciences: geography, math-ematics, medicine etc. A great

legacy is left by Anania Shirakatsi(7th century), a geographer, cos-mographer and mathematician,who offered an accurate explana-

tion for such natural phenomena asthe succession of seasons, solareclipses, tides etc. Armenian schol-ars had scored in medical science aswell. The most prominent represen-tative of Armenian medical schoolMkhitar Heratsi (11 century) in hiswork �Appeasement of fevers� of-fered a description of symptoms of

The statue of Anania Shirakatsiin Yerevan


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many conditions along with recom-mendations for their treatment.The works of a 15th century doctorAmirdovlat Amasiatsi are on gen-eral practice and pharmacology,outlining the accomplishments ofcontemporary medicine.

The creation of Armenian scriptprovided an incentive for the devel-opment of Armenian literature, thatpossessed rich traditions of oral loreprior to that. The medieval histori-ans may rightfully be considered thefirst Armenian writers, many ofthem not only possessed outstand-ing literary talent, but they also in-corporated in their works samples offolklore: myths and legends, savingthem for generations to come. Asearly as in the 5th century an impor-tant literary genre branched off, thehagiography, represented by numer-ous deeds of the saints. The princi-pal poetic genres were spiritual po-ems and hymns, the s h a r a k a n sand the k t s o u r d s , their first au-thors were Mesrob Mashtots andSahak Partev. Outstanding poets,Catholicos Komitas and DavtagKertogh worked in the 7th century.

Armenian poetry of the late me-dieval period was marked by the cre-ation of a work that was to becomethe culmination of the poetry of thetime. It is the �Book of lamenta-tions� by Grigor Narekatsi (10thcentury). This profoundly religious(which is characteristic for the

Middle Ages) poem strives to revealthe inner world of a man, hiscravings and passions. This work ofGrigor Narekatsi is an ode to theHuman, it is the precursor of Re-naissance in Armenian culture.

The poetry of Kostandin Yerzn-katsi (13�14th centuries) has clearsecular motifs, the poems of Frik(13th century) touch upon social is-sues, the poet stands up for justice,while Nahapet Kuchak (16th cen-tury) was a fine romantic. The medi-eval Armenian poetry is crowned bythe work of a formidable poet Sayat-Nova (18th century), an apex of lyri-cism.

Oral poetic lore, possessing finetraditions, continued to developthroughout the Middle Ages. The

Grigor Narekatsi. A portrait in a12th century manuscript

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greatest monument of this genre isthe epic �David of Sassoun�, whichreflects the struggle of the Armenianpeople against Arab rule in the 9th�10th centuries. This epic tale con-denses the outlook of the people, itsings praise to justice, kindness andthe outgoing character so under-standable for the people. This epicwent down from generation to gen-eration through oral lore until it gotrecorded in the 19th century.

Armenian architecture of themedieval period was highly devel-oped, it had produced a successionof genuine masterpieces. Thechurch architecture was most ad-vanced and it had progressedthrough several stages. The initialshape of the Armenian church wasthe basilica. Among stone basilicasthe most famous is the church inKassakh (4�5th centuries) and theYererouyk basilica (5th century).Later on the cross based cupolashape became prevalent forchurches. The most outstandingmonument of this period is the St.Hripsime church in Ejmiatsin, builtby Catholicos Komitas in 618 onthe site of the legendary martyrdomof Virgin Hripsime. The temple ofZvartnots (�of vigilant forces�) is aformidable monument close toEjmiatsin. The footprint of thehuge temple is round, it had threetiers astounding in their magnifi-cence. In the tenth century the

temple of Zvartnots collapsed froman earthquake impact.

The Armenian architecturereached a new peak under theBagratids. Numerous churches andcathedrals, palaces, guest houses etc.were built in the Bagratid capital ofAni, making up a wonderful archi-tectural ensemble. Following the14th century there came a certainslack in the development of Arme-nian architecture. According to theopinion of historians of architecturethe best samples of Armenian archi-tecture had an impact on the archi-tecture of many countries.

The fine arts in medieval Ar-menia mostly developed in threemodes: frescoes, mosaics and book

Toros Roslin. �The adorationof the Magi�


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illuminations. The murals were notwidespread, out of churches withpreserved frescoes the better knownare the churches in Aruch, Talin,Lmbat (7th century). In the 6th�7thcenturies mosaics depicting grape-vines, birds and fish decorated theArmenian churches of Jerusalem. Inthe late Middle Ages the Armenianbook illumination flourished. Agreat number of manuscripts were il-luminated with miniatures, the dyesof which have not faded through thecenturies. There were several schoolsof Armenian miniature painting: theCilician, the Vaspourakan, theArtsakh, the Gladzor etc., each ofwhich had its own unique featuresand traditions. Toros Roslin (13thcentury), the greatest miniaturepainter, represented the Cilicianschool.

Armenian medieval music waspredominantly spiritual. The liturgyin the Armenian church was accom-panied by hymns. Certain psalmsand hymns that were performed inthe church had acquired over time anew, secular content. By the end ofthe Middle Ages the art of gousansand ashoughs was quite common-place, they sang songs to their ownlyrics.

The enlightenment was an im-portant component of medieval Ar-menian culture. The first Armenianschools were founded immediatelyupon the invention of the Armenian

script, Mesrob Mashtots and his dis-ciples used to teach there. Theschools as a rule were maintained bythe church, most of them were atmonasteries and the teachers werethe v a r d a p e t s, monks that werereserved the right to teach. Thequantity of such schools increasedby the late Middle Ages, they werein a number of cities of Western andEastern Armenia: Ani, Narek,Karin, Tatev, Sanahin, etc. In Ciliciasuch schools existed in Sis, Akneretc. Later in the 17�18th centuriesEjmiatsin became the leading edu-cational centre for Eastern Armenia,while Constantinople remained suchfor Western Armenians.

The highest degree of educationwas offered by universities, the mostfamous among these were theGladzor (13�14th centuries) and theTatev (14�15th centuries) Universi-ties. Along with theology these uni-versities taught natural sciences,philosophy, music and other sub-jects. The graduates received thetitle of vardapet.

The medieval universities werealso research centres. They hadm a t e n a d a r a n s , depositaries ofmanuscripts, and the teachers wroteacademic treatises. Two Catholiccongregations of Armenian monksin Venice and Vienna played a sig-nificant role in the development ofdifferent branches of Armenology.The first was founded in 1717 on

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the island of San Lazarro in the Ve-netian Gulf by Mekhitar Sebastatsi,and it was later called in his honourthe Mekhitarist congregation. Thesecond was founded in 1811 by sev-eral members of the initial brother-hood that have left Venice. Bothcongregations continue to operatetoday.

On the eve of the New Age twoimportant events took place in thehistory of Armenian culture. In 1512in Venice first Armenian printingwas initiated. The printer HakobMeghapart published in a printshophe had founded the first Armenianprinted book �Friday book�, thatcontained diverse information.

Somewhat later Armenian print-shops were founded in Constanti-nople, as well as in Lvov and Ams-terdam in the 17th century, in Ma-dras (India) in the 18th century, andthen in St. Petersburg, Astrakhan,Nor Nakhijevan. In 1771 the

Ejmiatsin printshop was founded,the first in Armenia proper.

In 1794 the first Armenian peri-odical was published in Madras, the�Azdarar� (Herald) magazine, whichmarked the onset of the bicentennialhistory of Armenian periodicals.

The search for waysof liberation

The second half of the 17thcentury and the entire 18th cen-tury were marked by consistentsearch by the Armenians of waysfor liberation from the yoke oftwo Eastern despots: Turkey andIran. The leading role in this wasreserved to the Armenian churchthat epitomized the interests ofthe nation. Initially the Arme-nians attempted to solicit helpfrom the European countries.With this purpose missions weresent by the Armenian church toEurope, approaching differentEuropean governments and theHoly See to no avail. The strengt-hening of the Russian state in the16�17th centuries and the in-crease of its role in internationalrelations prompted the Armeniansocio-political circles to viewRussia as the external force thatcould help the liberation of Ar-menian from the yoke of Turkey

The first Armenian printed book�Ourbatagirk�, published by Hakob

Maghapart


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and Iran. Due notice was takenof the fact that Russian military-strategic and economic interestsurged it to procreate its power inthe Transcaucasus and ensure ac-cess to the Middle East. Foreignpolitical interests of Russia ap-parently coincided with the inter-ests of the Armenian people. Inthe very beginning of the 18thcentury a renowned figure of theArmenian liberation movementIsrael Ori, following his failure toensure the support of Europeanstates, arrived in Russia and con-ducted negotiations with TzarPeter I. The latter, governed byRussian interests, pledged to of-fer assistance in the liberation ofArmenia. And although this in-tention did not materialize at thetime, in subsequent plans of theliberation of Armenia Russia wasonce again a major player.

Eastern Armenia as partof Russia

The Russian policy towardsthe Transcaucasus has yieldedspecific results from the begin-ning of the 19th century. In 1801Georgia acceded to Russia, alongwith it the Northern regions ofArmenia also were added to Rus-sia: Lori-Pambak and Shamsha-

din. As a result of the Russo-Per-sian war of 1804�1813 Russia an-nexed, among other territories,Karabagh (Artsakh). And, finally,in the course of the Russo-Per-sian war of 1826�1828 the Rus-sian troops took over Yerevan onOctober 1, 1828. Pursuant to theTurkmenchai treaty of February,1828, Iran accepted the transferinto Russian rule of the Yerevanand Nakhijevan khanates. Thusthe greater part of Eastern Arme-nia was joined with Russia.

The masses of the Armenianpeople welcomed the inclusionof Eastern Armenia into the Rus-sian empire, they rightfullymaintained that at least a portionof the Armenian people was thusrelieved of the threat of physicalextermination.

As a part of Russia that hadembarked on a path of capitalisticdevelopment, the economy ofEastern Armenia underwent a cer-tain rise. Agriculture became itsleading sector, although begin-ning from the second half of the19th century substantial shifts oc-curred in industry as well: coppermining, processing of agriculturalproduce, wine and cognac pro-duction. By the end of the cen-tury the railway construction had

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commenced. Nevertheless Ar-menia still remained a supplierof raw materials for the Russianindustry. Armenian workers la-bored not only in Eastern Arme-nian enterprises, but also in theindustries of neighbouring Geor-gia and Azerbaijan.

National-liberation struggleof Western Armenians in

the second half of the 19thcentury. The emergence of

the Armenian question

In the second half of the 19thcentury the situation of WesternArmenians under the rule of theOttoman empire continued to de-teriorate. Western Armenian far-mers were mercilessly exploited,they were subjected to arbitrarytreatment by the authorities, toethnic pressure.The situation pro-voked the natural protest of West-ern Armenians, that more oftenthan not took the form of rebel-lions. The best known amongthese was the heroic uprising ofthe Zeytoun Armenians in 1862.The inhabitants of Zeytoun, analpine settlement in Cilicia,through their stubborn resistanceforced the Turkish authorities tonegotiate with them and drop the

idea of a reprisal. The Zeytounuprising of 1862 is one of the he-roic pages in the national-libera-tion struggle of Armenians.Zeytoun became the symbol ofcourage and selflessness of Arme-nian freedom fighters.

In the middle of the 1870s the lib-eration movement of the Balkanpeoples against the Turkish yokegained momentum. Russia openlysupported the revolt of Slavic peop-les. In the Russo-Turkish war thatfollowed in 1877�1878 Russia won acomprehensive victory. In the courseof the war Russian troops liberateda substantial part of Western Arme-nia, took the cities of Ardahan,Bayazet, Alashkert, Kars, Erzeroum.On March 3, 1878, a peace agree-ment was signed in San-Stefano.The terms of the agreement fixedthe strengthening of Russian posi-tion on the Balkans and in theTranscaucasus: Bulgaria, Serbia,Montenegria and Romania were lib-erated from the Turkish yoke, Rus-sia received a part of Bessarabia, aswell as the cities of Batum, Kars,Ardahan and Bayazet. The rest ofthe territory of Western Armeniataken by Russians during the warwent back to Turkey.

Upon the demand of Western Ar-menian public a special Article (16)was included in the text of the agree-ment with a view of granting West-ern Armenians certain safeguards


38

and rights within the Turkish state.Pursuant to this article Turkey wasobliged to undertake the necessaryreforms in the Armenian-populatedareas and the guarantor of these re-forms was to be the Russian army,remaining for that purpose on theterritory of Western Armenia for theduration of six months. With thesigning of the San-Stefano agree-ment the plight of Western Arme-nians became an issue of interna-tional relations, the A r m e n i a nQ u e s t i o n , that was destined tobecome the topic of discussions ininternational diplomacy for a longtime to come.

The general post-war situationalong with the strengthening of Rus-sia was in no way in the interests ofthe European powers, not to men-tion Turkey. England and theAustro-Hungarian empire insistedon holding a congress of Europeancountries with the purpose of dis-cussing post-war settlement in Eu-rope. Berlin was decided to be thevenue of the congress.

Upon learning of the congress theWestern Armenian society decided tosend an Armenian delegation to Ber-lin and submit to the participants ofthe congress documents substantiat-ing the necessity to grant Western Ar-menians national autonomy withinTurkey. The delegation was headedby a renowned clergyman and politi-cian Mkrtich Khrimian.

Russia ended up in complete iso-lation at the congress, the Europeancountries came up with a joint frontagainst her. The San-Stefano agree-ment was revised and Russia was de-prived of many a fruit of its militarytriumph. Russia even failed to insiston the adoption of a resolution indefence of the interests of WesternArmenians. The Berlin agreementincluded Article 61 providing for theimplementation of reforms in theArmenian-populated areas, but thelanguage was not backed by the im-portant safeguard provided by theSan-Stefano agreement: the presenceof Russian troops in Western Arme-nia. The further developments dem-onstrated that the Turkish authori-ties not only failed to comply withthe requirements of Article 61 of theBerlin Agreement, they embarkedon the implementation of their ownprogramme of �resolving� the Ar-menian Question � through physi-cal extermination of Western Arme-nians.

Following the BerlinCongress. The formation ofArmenian political parties

The resolutions of the BerlinCongress disillusioned the politi-cally active segment of the Arme-nian society. A conviction beganto prevail that the nation shoulditself take care of its own issues.

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The need for the organization ofnational liberation struggle wassubstantiated by many famouspublic figures, the writers Raffiand Raphael Patkanian, columnistGrigor Artsruni and others in par-ticular. Different organizations,societies and groups began toemerge, they set forth their ownprogrammes for the liberation ofthe Armenian people. And thoughthese organizations were operat-ing both in Western and in East-ern Armenia, they had limitedmembership and were unable tounfold wide-scale activities. Theywere but a phase in the formationof Armenian political parties.

The emergence of Armenian po-litical parties was determined by fur-ther strengthening towards the end ofthe 19th century of the national lib-eration struggle of Armenians. Theprogrammes of Armenian politicalparties gave central priority to theresolution of the Armenian Ques-tion and the liberation of WesternArmenians. In 1885 the first Arme-nian political party, the Armenakanorganization (by the name of theMarseilles- published newspaper�Armenia�) was formed. The partypredominantly operated in Vaspou-rakan (Western Armenia). Its pro-gramme provided for the liberationof the Armenian people with the sub-sequent creation of a state. In 1887 a

group of Armenian students in Swit-zerland created in Geneva a social-democratic party Hnchak by thename of the �Hnchak� (Bell) paperthey published. The principal objec-tive of the party was the resolution ofthe Armenian Question. In 1890 inTiflis the party Armenian Revolu-tionary Federation (Dashnaktsou-tyun) was founded. In order to attainthe principal objective, the resolutionof the Armenian Question, the partyadopted methods of armed struggleand impacting the international pub-lic opinion. The Dashnaktsoutyunparty created its organizational unitsin Western and Eastern Armenia, aswell as in Europe and the MiddleEast. Shortly thereafter it became oneof the most influential Armenian po-litical parties.

The Armenian haydoukmovement

One of the forms of the libera-tion struggle of Western Arme-nians was the haydouk move-ment. With the purpose of pro-tecting the lives and property ofWestern Armenian populationarmed groups of haydouks (feda-yeen) were created from amongthe Armenian youth. The hay-douk movement gained extensivemomentum in many areas ofWestern Armenia: Sassoun, Ta-ron, Van, Shapin-Garahissar and


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other locations. The fedayeenenjoyed popular support, theywere familiar with the local ter-rain and were skilled in diverse

combat tactics in their fightagainst the Turkish troops andgendarmerie. Many heroesemerged from within the hay-douk movement, they were ex-tremely popular with the people.Gevorg Chavoush, AghbyurSerob, Andranik, Nikol Doumanand others were nimble andbrave leaders of haydouk forma-tions. Still, their heroism andselflessness notwithstanding, thehaydouk movement failed to suc-ceed. The haydouk groups actedwithout coordination, the Arme-

nian political parties failed tolead the movement and, finally,the forces were too unequal: theentire state with its army and lawenforcement confronted the Ar-menian fedayeen.

The massacreof Armenians in Turkey atthe end of the 19th century

Meanwhile the Turkish au-thorities were planning a reprisalagainst the Armenian population,preparing to put an end to its lib-eration struggle. In 1894�1896 theTurkish authorities organised alarge-scale slaughter of Arme-nians in Western Armenia and inother Armenian-populated areasof Turkey. The slaughter wasmarked by extreme cruelty. Thepogroms took place in Sassoun,Constantinople, Trebizond,Marash, Karin, Van and other lo-cations. The total death toll wasnot less than 300 thousand Arme-nians, hundreds of villages andtowns were razed. In some areasthe Armenian population cameup with resistance. But the forceswere too unequal. The addressesof Western and Eastern Armenianpublic to the European powersrequesting to protect the Arme-

The monument to the Armenianfedayeen in the village of Oujan

(Aragatsotn province)

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nians and force the governmentof Sultan Abdul Hamid to stopthe massacre were to no avail.

Armenian cultureof the 19th century

In the 19th century the Armenianculture comprised three elements:Eastern Armenian culture, WesternArmenian culture and the culture ofArmenian migratory settlements.Each of these three directions devel-oped under the influence of factorsthat determined the lives of the re-spective segments of the people. StillArmenian culture was essentially anintegrity that expressed the interestsof the nation.

Substantial shifts have taken placein the domain of education. In thefirst half of the 19th century a num-ber of national schools were foundedin the Armenian migratory settle-ments. The most famous amongthese were the Skyutari seminary andthe Nercissian school in Constanti-nople, the Mesrobian school in Smyr-na, the Murad-Raphaelian Mekhi-tarist school in Venice, the Armenianschools in Astrakhan, Nor Nakhije-van, Theodossia and other locations.In 1815 the industrialists Lazarevsfounded a seminary in Moscow, thatlater became the Lazarev Institute ofOriental Languages. There were sev-eral public and private schools inTiflis, among which the most re-

nowned was the Nercissian school,opened in 1824. Following the acces-sion of Eastern Armenia to Russiapublic district as well as privateschools were opened in Alexandro-pol, Yerevan, Shushi. In 1874 theGevorgian seminary was founded in

Ejmiatsin, it later became a centre ofArmenology.

In the 19th century the scope ofbook printing expanded substan-tially. Within the 19th century therewere at least 130 Armenian print-shops in Constantinople only.There were Armenian printshops inVienna and Venice (at the Mekhi-tarist congregations), in Cairo, Al-exandria, Tehran, Paris, Calcuttaand other places. In the first half ofthe century printshops werefounded in Moscow (the most fa-mous was at the Lazarian semi-nary), in Tiflis, in Eastern Armeniathe biggest printshop was atEjmiatsin, founded by the end ofthe 18th century. 15 thousand books(textbooks, dictionaries, fiction,

The Gevorgian seminaryin Ejmiatsin


42

academic publications) and over1,300 periodicals were printed inthe course of the 19th century.

Within the Armenian academiain the 19th century armenology wasstill the leading discipline. A multi-tude of Armenological problemswere dealt with in the Vienna andVenice Mekhitarist congregations, inthe Moscow Lazarev Institute ofOriental Languages, in the Ejmia-tsin Gevorgian seminary.

Notable scholars like MikaelChamchian, Ghukas Inchinian,Ghevond Alishan (Venice) stood atthe cradle of Armenian historiogra-phy of modern times. A group ofhistorians and armenologists wor-ked in Russia: Mkrtich Emin,Kerovbe Patkanian, Karapet Yezian(Ezov), Grigor Khalatian, they ma-de a great contribution to the studyof the history of ancient Armenia,the historical Armeno-Russian re-lations, they translated into Russianand published medieval Armeniansources.

Armenian linguistics was alsoquite successful in the 19th century.The scholars of the Vienna Mekhi-tarist congregation elaborated workson the history and grammar of theArmenian language.

The most significant accomplish-ment in the study of folklore was therecording by Garegin Srvandztianand publication of the national epic�David of Sassoun�.

The natural sciences were repre-sented by scholars working in Eu-rope and Russia. These include theprominent geologist AndreasArtsruni, who worked in Russia andGermany, chemist Giacomo (Hakob)Chamchian, who worked in Italy,geologist Leonid Spendiarian, whoworked in Russia.

During the 19th century Arme-nian literature went through a pro-ductive development process,marked with periods of classicism,romanticism and, finally, realism.The literature played a major role inthe establishment of the nationalconscience, in educating the peoplein a patriotic freedom-loving spirit.

The monument toKhachatour Abovian in Kanaker,

next to his memorial house

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43

The great Armenian author Khacha-tour Abovian is rightfully consid-ered to be the progenitor of new Ar-menian literature. His work had pre-determined to a great extent theprospects of further development ofArmenian literature. Armenian lit-erature underwent a new rise in the1850�60s, when the writers began toaddress problems of popular con-cern more frequently: the fate of thefatherland and the nation, social andnational liberation. These motifsappeared in the works of poets Mi-kael Nalbandian, Smbat Shahaziz,Petros Durian, Mkrtich Peshiktash-lian, Raphael Patkanian. From the1870s onwards prose writing as-sumed the leading role in Armenianliterature. Novelist Raffi came cen-ter stage of the literary process, his

work became the epitome of Arme-nian romanticism. The work of nov-elists Perj Proshian, Ghazaros Agha-yan, playwright Gabriel Soundou-kian and others played a major rolein the development of Armenian lit-erature. Hakob Paronian was an un-surpassed master of satire.

The emergence of the Armenianprofessional theatre is dated by thesecond half of the 19th century(Constantinople, 1861). Two yearslater a professional theatre companywas created in Tiflis. The first gen-eration of Armenian actors includedbrilliant masters such as PetrosAdamian, Siranouysh, Azniv Hra-chia, Gevorg Chmshkian et al.

The establishment of new Arme-nian music of a European level per-tains to the work of composer TigranChukhajian, who worked in Cons-tantinople. Eastern Armenian musicwas represented by notable compos-ers Khristofor Kara-Murza, MakarYekmalian. The gussan art contin-ued to develop, it enjoyed widepopularity among general public.

In the 19th century the diversityof genres in Armenian fine arts ex-panded: highly praised works in-cluded landscape and portrait paint-ings, drawings, still-lifes. HakobHovnatanian became the founder ofthe school of realistic portraits, hedescended from a famous Hovnata-nian family of artists that created

The monument toMikael Nalbandian in Yerevan


44

since the 17th century. The founderof the genre-painting was StepanosNercissian, who worked in Tiflis andShushi. The great sea painter

Hovhannes (Ivan) Aivazovsky madehis own contribution to the devel-opment of Armenian painting.Apart from widely known seascapeshe also painted a number of worksdepicting scenes from Armenian his-tory. The apex of Armenian histori-cal painting was the work of VardgesSurenyants.

Thus in the 19th century all sec-tors of Armenian culture underwentqualitative changes that raised thespiritual life of the people to a newdimension. Culture became an im-portant factor of self-affirmation ofthe Armenian people, preservationof its national integrity.

The first World War andthe Armenians

In August, 1914, the first WorldWar began. The German-Austrianbloc that also included Turkeyunleashed the war against the En-tente countries (England, France,Russia). The war became an insur-mountable disaster for the Arme-nian people. Eastern Armenians,who were Russian nationals, weredrafted into the Russian army.Western Armenians, being Turk-ish nationals, had to serve in theTurkish army contrary to their in-terests. The Turkish authoritiesdid not trust the Armenians andput the Armenian servicemen to-gether into engineering regimentsthat did not receive arms. Shortlythereafter the Armenians thatwere drafted into the Turkisharmy were exterminated upon theorders of the Turkish high com-mand. This act essentially markedthe beginning of the genocide ofArmenians in Turkey.

With the beginning of the war inthe Transcaucasus a movementemerged in the Armenian settlementsof Russia to put together Armenianvolunteer groups. Armenians cher-ished hopes that with the victory ofRussia in the war against Turkey West-ern Armenians would be liberated

The portrait of Natalia Teumian.Hakob Hovnatanian, 1840s

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from the Turkish yoke. The volunteermovement legitimately picked up thecenturies-old tradition of the national-liberation struggle of the Armenianpeople. Seven Armenian volunteercorps were formed within a shorttime-frame, they were lead byAndranik (A. Ozanian), Dro (D.Kanayan), Hamazasp (H. Srvandz-tian), Keri (A. Gavafian), Vardan (V.Meghrabian), A. Janpoladian (later H.Bjshkian) and H. Argoutian. The to-tal manpower of the Armenian volun-teer corps was 10 thousand men. TheArmenian volunteer corps took an ac-tive participation in combat.

During military action on theCaucasian front between 1914�1917 the Russian troops defeatedthe Turks and liberated a sub-stantial part of Western Armenia.This situation was maintained atthe time of conclusion of armi-stice on the Caucasian front, fol-lowing the withdrawal of Russiafrom the war.

The genocide of Armeniansof 1915�1916

Taking advantage of the out-break of war, the Turkish authori-ties set out to implement thelong-planned programme of ex-termination of the Armenianpopulation of Turkey. Documen-tary evidence irrefutably attests

that the plans for the extermina-tion of the Western Armenianpopulation had been in prepara-tion even before the beginning ofthe World War. After the liquida-tion of the Armenian conscriptsin the Turkish army (February,1915) the Turkish authorities is-sued an order in April of 1915 onthe deportation and extermina-tion of Armenians in all regionsof the empire. On the evening ofApril 24th arrests began of theArmenian intellectuals inConstantinople. The detained,over 800 writers, journalists, doc-tors and clergymen were de-ported into the sticks of Anatolia.Many of the deportees werekilled along the way, the remain-ing were killed upon arrival.Since then April 24th is com-memorated by Armenians allover the world as the day of re-membrance of the victims ofgenocide.

In 1915�1916 the destructionen masse of the Armenian popu-lation of Western Armenia tookplace (in the vilayets of Van,Erzeroum, Bitlis, Kharberd,Sebastia, Diarbekir, Trebizond),as well as of Cilicia, WesternAnatolia and other locations.The deportation of Armenians


46

pursued the final objective oftheir liquidation. There wereconcentration camps for Arme-nians created in Mesopotamiaand in Syria, only a part of thedeportees made it there and themassacres carried on in thecamps as well. The actions of the

Turkish villains were marked byunrivalled cruelty. There aremany eyewitness accounts pre-served that describe the unprec-edented suffering borne by theArmenian population. The totalnumber of victims reaches 1.5million people, approximately800,000 Armenians became ex-

iles and dispersed over theworld, adding to the existing Ar-menian communities and estab-lishing new ones. Tremendousdamage was done to the materialand spiritual culture of Arme-nians. The intellectual potentialof the nation suffered irrecover-

able loss. Famous authors andpoets Grigor Zohrab, Varoujan,Siamanto, Rouben Sevak andothers, many columnists, paint-ers, actors, scholars fell victim tothe atrocities. Unable to with-stand the mental overload thegreat composer Komitas wentmad. Hundreds of historical and

The Memorial to victims of the Genocide of 1915. Yerevan

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architectural monuments andthousands of manuscripts weredestroyed, many sanctuaries ofthe people were desecrated.

In some locations the Armenianpopulation came up with stubbornresistance against Turkish villains.The Armenians of Van resorted toself-defence in the Spring of 1915,they succeeded in fencing off the at-tacks of the enemy and kept the cityin their hands until the arrival ofRussian troops and Armenian vol-unteers. The Armenians of Shapin-Garahissar, Moush, Sassoun, Fin-tichag also came up with steadfastresistance against the overwhelmingforces of the enemy. The epic of thedefenders of Mousa Dagh in Suetialasted for forty days.

Progressive mankind con-demned the atrocities of Turkishpogroms. Public figures, politi-cians, scholars and intellectuals inmany countries stigmatized thegenocide and participated in ex-tending humanitarian assistanceto the Armenian people.

After the defeat of Turkey in thefirst World War the leaders of theYoung Turks were accused of lead-ing Turkey into the disastrous warand were taken to court. They werealso accused in the perpetration ofthe genocide of Armenians. But theverdict against the former heads ofTurkey was passed in absentiam,

since they had fled the country im-mediately upon its defeat. The capi-tal punishment of some of them(Talaat, Bekhaeddin Sakir, JemalAzim, Said Khalim et al) was ex-ecuted later by Armenian avengers.

The Republic of Armenia(1918�1920)

In February 1917, at the heightof the World War, Russia under-went a bourgeois-democraticrevolution, as a result of whichmonarchy was overthrown and aProvisional Government wasformed. Russia embarked on apath of democratic development.Unfortunately democratic Russiadid not have long to live. In Octo-ber of 1917 the Bolshevik party,taking advantage of the continu-ing economic crisis and of thepopular dissatisfaction with war,toppled the Provisional Govern-ment and took the power inPetrograd and, later, in Moscowand a number of other regions ofRussia. The Bolshevik govern-ment headed by Vladimir Lenindeclared its withdrawal from thewar. In December, 1917, a sepa-rate armistice was signed betweenRussia and Germany with its al-lies. The Russian troops beganevacuating the Caucasian front.


48

The national political partiesof the Transcaucasus assumed ahostile attitude towards the Oc-tober coup in Russia and took theorientation of detaching theTranscaucasus from Russia. Theycreated their own governance en-tities in the Transcaucasus, ini-tially it was the TranscaucasianCommissariat and later, in Feb-ruary 1918, the TranscaucasianSejm (diet).

In January 1918 the Turkishtroops in breach of the armisticeundertook an attack on the Cau-casian front. Without encounter-ing serious resistance, since thefront line by that time was defacto denuded, the Turks shortlytook over Western Armenia, theKars region and Batum. The ag-gression was accompanied with amassacre of the Armenian popu-lation. In April 1918 the Trans-caucasian Sejm adopted a resolu-tion on the separation of the re-gion from Russia and the forma-tion of a Transcaucasian Demo-cratic Federal Republic. Follow-ing that negotiations commencedbetween the Transcaucasian Re-public and Turkey on the conclu-sion of peace, which failed to yieldpositive results. The negotiationsrevealed serious controversies be-

tween the members of theTranscaucasian Republic Arme-nia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Itbecame apparent, in particular,that Azerbaijan had assumed apro-Turkish orientation andwould not impede with the entryof Turkish troops into the Trans-caucasus. As for Armenians, theTurkish invasion loomed with therecurrence of genocide, this timein Eastern Armenia. The contro-versies turned out to be insur-mountable and on May 26, 1918,the Transcaucasian Sejm re-corded the fact of the breakdownof the Transcaucasian Republic.On May 26, 1918, the indepen-dence of Georgia was pro-claimed, this was followed onMay 27 by the proclamation ofindependence of Azerbaijan andon May 28, 1919, Armenia pro-claimed its independence. Therestoration of Armenian state-hood became possible in view ofthe fact that in those very daysof May the Armenian peoplestood up in a united drive in de-fence of the fatherland and in thebattles of Sardarapat, Karaklisand Bash-Aparan succeeded inhalting the advancement ofTurkish troops and preventingtheir invasion into the Ararat

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plain. In the beginning of July of1918 a peace treaty was signed inBatum with Turkey, pursuant towhich the latter recognized thesovereignty of Armenia within anotably curtailed territory that re-mained under the disposition ofthe government of Armenia.

The Republic of Armenia existedfor two and a half years in condi-tions of dire domestic and interna-tional crisis. In July of 1918 the firstcabinet was formed headed by

Hovhannes Kajaznouni: most of theportfolios went to the representa-tives of the Dashnaktsoutyun party.In August 1919 Alexandre Khatis-sian became the prime-minister (un-til May 1920) followed by A.Ohanjanian (until November 28,1920). The last prime-minister wasSimon Vratsian (from November 28,1920 to December 2, 1920). The Par-liament of the Republic of Armeniabegan its work on August 1, 1918, itwas formed on a multi-party basis.In June 1919 elections were held for

The Memorial to the heroes of the Sardarapat battle of 1918


50

the new composition of the Parlia-ment, the majority of the seats inwhich still remained with theDashnaktsoutyun.

In domestic policies the govern-ment tried to overcome the economiccrisis that had overwhelmed thecountry. In difficult conditions it be-came possible to receive food fromabroad and thus somewhat mitigatethe hunger. The economy livened upa little. An army was created and de-cisions were taken in constructing astate.The overall situation in thecountry though continued to remainexigent and the economy was under-mined. The commencing process ofstabilization received a hard blow bythe May, 1920, uprising of the Bol-sheviks and the concurrent revolts ofthe local Turkic population.

The principal objective of the for-eign policy of the government was,above all, the liberation of the terri-tories captured by the Turks. Thisbecame possible following the defeatof Turkey in the first World War. Asa result the borders of 1914 were al-most completely restored. At thesame time the population of Artsakhand Zangezour successfully repelledthe attempts of the Turko-Azerbai-jani conquerors to take over the re-spective regions of Armenia.

Aspiring to bring up and resolvethe Armenian Question, Armeniasent its delegation to the Paris peaceconference (1919�1920). The Paris

conference resolved to grant theU.S.A. a mandate over Armenia. Ar-menia endorsed this decision but theU.S.A. Senate, upon lengthy delib-eration over the issue, declined theoffer.

In August, 1920, the winningcountries concluded the Sevrespeace treaty with defeated Turkey.The terms of the treaty were quiteadvantageous for Armenia: theTurkish party recognized the sover-eignty of Armenia, the borders be-tween Armenia and Turkey were tobe drawn by the government of theU.S.A. Armenia received access tothe Black Sea and the overall terri-tory of Armenia added up to 160thousand square kilometers. Thetreaty of Sevres remained on paper,it was not recognized by the newgovernment of Turkey headed byMustafa Kemal. A decisive role wasplayed here by the rapprochementbetween Bolshevik Russia and ke-malist Turkey. Wary of the fact thatTurkey may fall under the control ofSoviet Russia, the European powersmade concessions and did not insiston compliance of Turkey with theterms of the treaty, whereas Arme-nia was not able to single-handedlymake Turkey respect the treaty ofSevres. Thus failed another attemptat the resolution of the ArmenianQuestion.

In September, 1920, Turkeycommenced a military offensive

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against the Republic of Armenia.Armenians withdrew under theonslaught, yielding the enemythe lands so onerously returned.The approaches of Armenia tothe allied powers and to theLeague of Nations were useless.Armenia surrendered and overhalf of its territory was capturedby the Turks. On December 2,1920, Turkey pressed Armenia toconclude the treaty of Alexandro-pol, pursuant to which Armeniashrank back to the borders pro-vided by the Batum treaty, de-nounced the treaty of Sevres anddisarmed. On the same day inYerevan an agreement was con-cluded between Soviet Russiaand the Republic of Armenia, bywhich the government of SimonVratsian laid down its powers andArmenia was proclaimed a SovietRepublic. The Republic of Arme-nia ceased to exist.

Armenia in the USSR.The Armenian Soviet

Socialist Republic

In the seven decades that fol-lowed Armenia remained withinthe USSR. Throughout this pe-riod Armenia followed a knottycourse of socio-economic andpolitical development, marked by

accomplishments and depriva-tion, success and sacrifices. Thelife of the Armenian peopleevolved around the same axis asthat of the rest of the USSR.

During the first months of itsrule the Soviet power undertooka number of measures to replicatewhat had already been done inSoviet Russia: the nationalizationof land, water, forests and min-eral resources, major industriesand banks. This put an end toprivate property, which was con-sidered to represent the first steptowards socialism. Historical tra-dition and the peculiar featuresof Armenia were ignored. Bytheir stringent policy of expro-priation of wheat the Sovietsstirred popular discontent amongfarmers, which outgrew into arevolt by the beginning of 1921,suppressed with the help of RedArmy regiments.

During the first years of So-viet power Armenia suffered sen-sible territorial losses. In viola-tion of the national interests ofthe Armenian people the govern-ment of Soviet Russia agreed toyield to Turkey the region ofKars, the district of Surmali, aswell as to transfer Nakhijevan toAzerbaijan. Somewhat later


52

Artsakh (Nagorno Karabagh)was also attached to Azerbaijan.

During the years of Soviet domi-nation major steps were taken in therepublic to develop the industry.The creation of powerful industrywas deemed to be the cornerstone forbuilding socialism. Agriculture inArmenia was sacrificed in favour ofthis course: the forced collectiviza-tion of farms (end of 1920s � begin-ning of 1930s) allowed the state todispose of agricultural revenue andsteer most of it towards the develop-ment of industry. As a result coppermining, chemical industry, buildingmaterials industry, light industryand food processing developed inArmenia. Serious mistakes weremade along the way in the position-ing of industrial enterprises, envi-ronmental issues were ignored alto-gether etc. In view of the proactivedevelopment of the energy sectormostly energy-intensive industrieswere created in the republic. Begin-ning from the 1960s multi-profilemachine tool production, instru-ment-making, production of auto-mation devices, electronics etc. as-sumed leading positions among Ar-menian industries.

The development of industrymade Armenia a predominantly in-dustrial country, it stimulated accel-erated rates of urbanization as a re-sult of which nowadays most of thepopulation is urban.

Collectivization caused greatdamage to the agriculture, which thevillage never seemed to have recov-ered from. In general the agricultureof Armenia was way behind the av-erage world level. The rural areascontinued to lag behind the cities intheir social and cultural develop-ment.

The single-party system estab-lished in Armenia contributed to thedeterioration of democracy. As else-where in the USSR the elections inArmenia to the soviets (councils) atall levels became fictitious, since thecomposition of the soviets was de-termined in advance by party in-stances. Violations of the law becamecommonplace. In the second half of1930s, in the conditions of the cultof the personality tens of thousandsof people were unlawfully perse-cuted in Armenia. In 1949 thou-sands of families were illicitly exiledfrom Armenia to the Altay region.The party/state bureaucracy of therepublic obediently implemented allinstructions originating from thecentre.

The Armenian people took an ac-tive part in the second World War.During the years of war against fas-cist Germany (1941�1945) hundredsof thousands of Armenians fought atthe front line, several Armenian na-tional divisions were formed. Arme-nian military commanders earnedfull fame, these included marshals

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Ivan Baghramian, Hamazasp Babaja-nian, Sergey Khudyakov (A. Khan-feriants), admiral Ivan Issakov andothers. Many Diaspora Armeniansfought within the ranks of alliedarmies, took part in the Resistance(France, Greece, Bulgaria).

Following the second World Wara repatriation en masse of DiasporaArmenians was carried out, as a re-sult of which around 90 thousandrepatriates arrived in Armenia. Still,from the middle of the 1970s, alongwith the deterioration of the stan-dard of living in the USSR, the out-flow of Armenians to foreign coun-tries began to increase.

By the middle of the 1970snegative trends emerged in thedevelopment of the economy ofthe USSR. Extensive methodshave exhausted themselves, the

country obviously began to fallbehind the world level of scien-tific and technological progress.Corruption and theft of publicproperty, as well as other negativetrends became widespread. Thepopular dissent began to grow.

The proclamation ofindependence of Armenia.The establishment of the

Third Republic

In the middle of the 1980s im-portant changes took place in thelife of the USSR. The new lead-ership that came to power withMikhail Gorbachev declared acourse of �perestroika�. Initiallya certain amount of success wasregistered in the establishmentof glasnost (transparency), thedemocratization of social life,real foundations were set for theestablishment of a multi-partysystem.

The process of democratizationalso unfolded in Armenia. The re-thinking of many events of the past,the return to ethical values thatwere denied for decades by officialideology, the perception of the Ar-menians of Armenia and the Dias-pora as a single nation that faces thesame challenge of self-assertion, allof the above were components in the

The monument to the fallen in theGreat Patriotic War. Azat village

(Shirak province)


54

mainstream process of democratiza-tion. The Karabagh movement be-came a sort of catalyst for this pro-cess in Armenia.

Maintaining that �perestroyka�should touch upon the domain ofethnic relations, the Armenians ofKarabagh, who prior to that havemany times unsuccessfully brought

up the issue of attaching the Na-gorno Karabagh Autonomous Re-gion (NKAR) to Armenia, one moretime came up with the issue of unit-ing the two parts of a single nation.This demand, voiced in February,1988, through a resolution of the Re-gional Soviet (council) of peoples�deputies of NKAR, was met withhostility not only in Azerbaijan, butalso in the centre. By the end of Feb-ruary pogroms of Armenians brokeout in Sumgait (Azerbaijan), dozensof innocent people fell victim to

them. These atrocities did not re-ceive a political assessment, its realorganizers were not revealed and re-mained unpunished. The commenc-ing Karabagh movement was quali-fied by the centre as a provocationunderwritten by �extremists� and�nationalists�.

The Karabagh movement re-ceived wide support of all strata ofthe Armenian people. A committeecalled �Karabagh� was formed, thattook the lead of the ever increasingmovement. In these conditions theleadership of the communist partyof Armenia isolated itself from thepeople and thus completely discred-ited itself. The Karabagh movementcontinued to grow even after the di-sastrous earthquake of December,1988, that struck the northern re-gions of the republic. The movementoutgrew into the Pan ArmenianMovement (PAN), that enjoyed widesupport by the population and pur-sued the objective of radical demo-cratic transformations.

In January, 1990, with direct con-nivance of the centre, a new massa-cre of Armenians was organized inBaku and the situation was aggra-vated further, turning into an everinsoluble ethnic conflict. Over300,000 Armenians vacated Azer-baijan, the Azeri population left Ar-menia. Clashes began in the NKAR,along the Armenian-Azerbaijaniborder, sometimes outgrowing intoreal combat.

A rally in Yerevan in defenceof the demands of the Armenians ofArtsakh (Nagorno Karabagh). 1988

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In May, 1990, elections took placeto the Supreme Soviet of the repub-lic, where the PAM won a landslide.

On August 23, 1990, the SupremeSoviet of the republic adopted a dec-laration of independence of Arme-nia, that proclaimed the onset of theprocess of establishment of indepen-dent statehood. The Armenian So-viet Socialist Republic was renamedthe Republic of Armenia. Later, fol-lowing the breakup of the SovietUnion, a national referendum washeld in September, 1991, whence theoverwhelming majority of the popu-lation of Armenia opted for the es-tablishment of an independent state.Levon Ter-Petrossian was electedthe first president (1991�1998) ofindependent Armenia. In March,1998, Robert Kocharian was electedpresident of the country.

Since the proclamation of in-dependence of Armenia radicaltransformations have been imple-mented in all walks of life: theeconomy, state organization, so-cial and political plains, culture,relations with the external world.In extremely grave conditions,exacerbated by the collapse of theSoviet Union, as well as the direeconomic crisis, aggravated bythe permanent blockade of landcommunications and the gaspipeline by Azerbaijan, the Ar-menian people continues to forge

its independence, looking aheadwith hope. The reader will gainexposure to the current situationof the Republic of Armenia, itsstate organization, economy, cul-ture, foreign policy in the subse-quent sections of this Guide.

Armenian culturein the 20th century

The first decades of the 20th cen-tury were marked by outstandingaccomplishments of Armenian cul-ture. In all of its domains there werebrilliant masters, whose work be-came an ageless value in Armenian

spiritual life. The poetry of these de-cades is represented by the works ofHovhannes Toumanian, AvetikIssahakian, Vahan Terian, the illus-trious Pleiad of Western Armenianpoets Missak Metsarents, DanielVaroujan, Siamanto and others. The

The monument to Avetik Issahakianin Gyumri


56

prose writing was enriched by theinput of Alexandre Shirvanzade,Vrtanes Papazian, Grigor Zohrab etal. A new step was outlined in thedevelopment of Armenian music,determined first and foremost by thework of the great Komitas. Arme-nian stage art was also on the rise:

scores of theatre companies nur-tured among them great masters ofArmenian stage: Hovhannes Abe-lian, Vahram Papazian, Hasmik,Arous Voskanian, Hrachia Nercis-sian and others. Armenian fine artsof the beginning of the 20th centurywere represented by major masters

�Armenia� by Martiros Sarian, 1923

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of the elder generation: VardgesSourenyants, Gevorg Bashinjaghianas well as by painters, whose creativepotential bloomed through subse-quent decades: Martiros Sarian,Yeghishe Tadevossian, HakobKojoyan, sculptor Hakob Gurjian.

The establishment of Sovietpower in Armenia had resulted inserious transformations in the pro-cess of development of culture. Theexclusive domination of communistideology, the state policy that aimed

at making culture a docile instru-ment of ideological brainwashing,the establishment of the rules of no-torious �socialist realism� thathedged creative freedom, the nihil-

istic attitude towards the culture ofthe past, all of these threatened tocut the continuum of time that isculture. The communist system sup-pressed the freedom of creation andpunished for slightest deviationsfrom the �socialist realism� canon.The work of the great painterMartiros Sarian was for a long timedeclared to be outside of the �main-stream of socialist realism�; in thesecond half of the 1940s the work ofthe outstanding composer of ourtime Aram Khachatourian was sub-

jected to unfair and scathing criti-cism; poets Hovhannes Shiraz andParouyr Sevak, novelist Hrant Ma-tevossian have experienced to dif-fering extents the pressure of the

�Jajour� by Minas Avetissian, 1960


58

system in their times. From the sec-ond half of the 1950s, following thedebunking of the cult of the person-ality, the erroneous approach to cul-tural heritage was to a greater extentovercome, contemporary culture wasadmitted to be the organic succes-sor of the centuries-old culture ofthe Armenian people. All the ob-stacles notwithstanding, the real tal-ent always found its way. The bestworks of authors Derenik Demir-jian, Gourgen Mahari, Hrachia Ko-char, Hamo Sahian, Sylva Kapou-tikian, Moushegh Galshoyan, Va-hagn Davtian, artists Minas Ave-tissian, Grigor Khanjian, Hakob Ha-kobian, architects AlexandreTamanian, Raphael Israelian andothers have rightfully claimed theirdue place in the treasury of Arme-nian culture.

During the seven decades signifi-cant success has been reached inArmenia in the development of sci-ence and education. Systems of man-datory elementary, then secondaryeducation have been consistentlyimplemented. A system of voca-tional schools has been put in place

to prepare workers of diverse speci-alities. Quite a wide network ofhigher educational institutions al-lows to put out professionals in spe-cialities demanded by the economy.A wide scope of sciences has devel-oped in the country. In 1943 the Na-tional Academy of Sciences wasfounded. The institutes within itsstructure promote fundamental re-search as well as Armenology. Thestudies of the member of the Acad-emy Victor Hambartsoumian (andhis school) in astrophysics have wonwide acclaim, the same is true of re-search in physics, chemistry, cyber-netics etc. A number of R&D labo-ratories, institutes and bureaus workon technological problems of pro-duction. Armenia is a recognizedworld centre of Armenology. By vir-tue of a developed system of highereducation Armenia has become astate with high intellectual potential.

Armenian culture treats itscenturies-old traditions with so-licitude, it is perceptive to the ac-complishments of world cultureand strives to keep the pace withsocial progress.

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The Armenian church is oneof the oldest Christian churchesin the world. Since Armenia is acountry where Christianity wasproclaimed an official state reli-

gion earlier than in other coun-tries, the Armenian Apostolicchurch is considered to be the�elder� among the world�s sisterChristian churches.

Since the proclamation ofChristianity a state religion (301A.D.) and until the year 368 theArmenian church was reportingto the Cilician Metropolitan (in

Cappadocia). Later by a decree ofthe Armenian king Pap the Ar-menian Apostolic church wasproclaimed to be independentwithin the ecumenical church.

THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH

The Ejmiatsin Cathedral (Vagharshapat)

60

In 303 in the capital of Arme-nia Vagharshapat the Cathedral ofSt. Ejmiatsin was consecrated. St.Ejmiatsin became the residence ofthe Catholicos of all Armeniansand the religious centre for Arme-nians around the world. Subse-quently in view of changing socio-economic and political circum-stances the residence of theCatholicos of all Armenians hadbeen moved more than once toother locations: to Dvin, Akhta-mar, Argina, Ani. In 1066 the Ca-tholicosate was moved to Cilicia,where it shifted between differenttowns of the Cilician Armeniankingdom, including the capitalcity of Sis (until 1441). In 1441the Catholicosate was moved backto St. Ejmiatsin in Vagharshapat,where it remains until now. TheCilician Catholicosate remainedafter the fall of the Cilician Arme-nian kingdom and is currently inAntilias (near Beirut in Lebanon).

The Armenian Apostolicchurch recognizes the followingsacraments: Baptism, Anointingof the sick, Penance, Eucharist,Holy orders (Ordination) andMarriage. Baptism is the firstsacrament. Those who are notbaptised may not share the re-maining sacraments. In the Ar-

menian church the sacraments ofAnointing with the myrrh andthe Eucharist are performed to-gether with the Baptism. Onlytheir joint exertion makes thesacrament of Baptism effective.

The Armenian Apostolicchurch observes the Lord�s holi-days dedicated to Jesus Christ;the Lord�s holidays dedicated toVirgin Mary; the Lord�s holidaysdedicated to the Holy Cross andthe Lord�s holidays dedicated tothe Holy church. Five among theLord�s holidays are called theGreat: Epiphany (Christmas andBaptism), Easter, Transfigura-tion, Ascension, Exaltation of theCross. These are perceived notonly as religious, but also as po-pular holidays. Mondays imme-diately following the great holi-days are the days for the remem-brance of the dead.

The Armenian church calen-dar has 112 days for the com-memoration of the saints. The Ar-menian church honours the me-mory of about 400 saints thatbreak down into three groups:Biblical saints (forefathers, Apost-les, prophets, Evangelists etc.),Ecumenical saints (martyrs, prel-ates, fathers of the church andothers honoured by all Christian

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61

churches), Armenian saints(about 50 of them, including:martyrs Gayane, Hripsime andothers; Gregory the Illuminator,the first Catholicos; king of Ar-menia Tiridates, who decreedChristianity to be the state reli-gion; Catholicos Nerses the Greatof the 4th century; catholicosSahak Partev, one of the transla-tors of the Bible into the Arme-nian language; Mesrob Mashtots,the creator of the Armenian al-phabet; prince Vardan Mami-konian, the leader of the uprisingagainst Persians in the 5th cen-tury; Grigor Narekatsi, a greatpoet; teachers of the church;theologians Hovhan Vorotnetsiand Grigor Tatevatsi and others).The day of remembrance of eachsaint is clearly defined in the Ar-menian church calendar.

The Armenian church pre-serves many relics, among whichthe most significant are the fol-lowing: the spearhead that hadpierced the rib of Jesus Christ (inthe Middle Ages it was kept at theGeghard monastery, now it is inSt. Ejmiatsin), reliquary of theright hand of Gregory the Illu-minator (is the symbol of powerof the Catholicos of all Arme-nians, kept in St. Ejmiatsin), a

relic of the Noah�s Ark (kept inSt. Ejmiatsin), and others.

The Catholicosate of all Arme-nians comprises: the ArmenianPatriarchate of Jerusalem (estab-lished in the 7th century, the Ar-menian Patriarchate of Constan-tinople (established in 1461) and36 sees (8 of which cover the ter-ritory of the Republic of Arme-nia, one covers the territory ofArtsakh and the remaining coverthe countries of Europe, theAmericas, Asia, Africa and Aus-tralia where Armenians live).

The head of the Armenian Ap-ostolic church is the Supreme Pa-triarch and Catholicos of all Ar-menians, who is elected for life bythe Clerical/National Councilspecially convened for the occa-sion. The council comprises rep-resentatives of the clergy as wellas laymen that are elected from allsees and communities of the Ar-menian church around the world.

It was mentioned above thatthe Armenian Apostolic churchhas played a prodigious role inthe history of the Armenianpeople. The development of edu-cation and national culture clo-sely relate to the endeavors of thechurch. The church was and re-mains to be an important factor

THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH

62

of unity for the Armenians of Ar-menia and Spiurk (the Diaspora),of the preservation of ingenious-ness of Armenians abroad. Withthe proclamation of the Republicof Armenia the impediments forthe operation of the church havebeen completely removed, an en-

vironment was put in place thatallows the people to live a spiri-tual life in accordance with theprinciples that have been pro-fessed by them for centuries andwere consecrated by the teachingof the Armenian Apostolicchurch.

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63

STATE ORGANIZATION

The Republic of Armenia is a sovereign, democratic, social, ruleof law state.

The power in the Republic of Armenia belongs to the people. Thepeople administer the power through free elections, referendums aswell as through state bodies, bodies of local administration and pub-lic officials provided by the Constitution.

The state power is administered pursuant to the Constitution andthe laws, based on the principle of separation of the legislative, execu-tive and judicial branches.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLICOF ARMENIA

The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia was adopted on July5, 1995, in the result of a popular referendum.

The Constitution is the basic law of the Republic of Armenia andis the safeguard of independent democratic society in Armenia, basedon the supremacy of social justice and the law.

The Constitution affirms the following provisions:� the bases for constitutional order� the principal rights and freedoms of humans and citizens� the President of the Republic� the National Assembly (Parliament)� the Government� the judiciary� territorial administration and local self-governance� the adoption, amendment of the Constitution and referendum� transitional provisions.

THE PRESIDENT

The Republic of Armenia has a system of presidential rule. Pur-suant to the Constitution the President ensures compliance with theConstitution, the normal operation of the legislative, the executive

THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA TODAY

64

and the judiciary, is the guarantor of sovereignty, territorial integrityand security of the Republic.

The president is elected by the citizens of the Republic of Armeniafor a term of five years.

Any person 35 years of age that has been a citizen of the Republic ofArmenia for the preceding ten years, has been a permanent resident ofthe Republic of Armenia for the preceding ten years, and having a vot-ing right may be elected President. The same person may not be electedto the office of the President for more than two consecutive terms.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (PARLIAMENT)

The National Assembly executes the legislative power in the Re-public of Armenia.

The current composition of the National Assembly was formed in theresult of the elections on May 30, 1999, for a four year term. The elec-tions were a mix between the majoritarian and proportional systems.

The National Assembly comprises 131 deputies. 75 deputies areelected by the majoritarian system and 56 by the proportional system

The Chancery of the President of the Republic of Armenia in Yerevan

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65

(party representation). Only the parties that have received at least5% of the total votes in the proportional elections (by party lists)may have factions in the parliament. Any 10 or more deputies mayform their own caucus.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLICOF ARMENIA

The government of the Republic of Armenia executes the execu-tive power in the Republic of Armenia. It comprises the Prime Min-ister and the ministers.

The structure and the operating procedures of the governmentare defined by a decree of the President of the Republic of Armeniaupon presentation by the Prime Minister.

The President of the Republic appoints the the Prime Minister(the Varchapet) to head the Cabinet. The members of the Cabinet, theministers (nakharars) are appointed upon the nomination of thePrime Minister.

The sessions of the Cabinet are convened and moderated by thePresident of the Republic of Armenia or, upon delegation by the lat-ter, by the Prime Minister.

The building of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia in Yerevan


66

The resolutions of the government are signed by the Prime Min-ister and endorsed by the President of the Republic of Armenia.

The following ministers are members of the Cabinet (as of June, 1999):of AgricultureOn Coordination of operation of production infrastructureof Culture, youth issues and sportChief of staff of Government-Ministerof Defenceof Economicsof Education and scienceof Energyof Environmental protectionof Financeof Foreign affairsof Healthof Industry and tradeof Internal affairsof Justice

The Government House of the Republic of Armenia on the Republic Squarein Yerevan

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of National securityof Post and telecommunicationsof Privatisationof Public revenueof Social securityof Statistics, state registry and analysisof Territorial governanceof Transportof Urban development.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The Constitutional court of the Republic of Armenia comprisesnine members, five of whom are appointed by the National Assem-bly and another four by the President of the Republic of Armenia.Members of the Constitutional court are appointed for a term thatexpires upon their reaching the age of 70. Their powers cease only inthe cases and by the procedure defined by the Constitution and thelaws of the Republic of Armenia.

The Constitutional court, in a manner stipulated by law:� determines the conformity with the Constitution of laws, resolu-

tions of the National Assembly, decrees, findings of the President ofthe Republic of Armenia, resolutions of the Government

� prior to ratification determines the conformity with the Consti-tution of the obligations stipulated by international agreements

� offers opinion on the existence of grounds for the impeachmentof the President of the Republic of Armenia

� offers opinion on the impossibility of further execution of pow-ers by the President of the Republic of Armenia

� adopts resolutions, in a manner stipulated by law, on suspensionor prohibition of the operation of political parties...

The following are reserved the right to apply to the Constitutionalcourt:

� the President of the Republic of Armenia� no less than one third of the deputies


68

� presidential candidates of the Republic of Armenia over disputespertaining to the results of the elections

� the Government in the event of impossibility for the President ofthe Republic to execute his/her powers.

The Constitutional court hears cases only upon the existence of arespective application.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION. TERRITORIALGOVERNANCE AND LOCAL SELF-ADMINISTRATION

Provinces and communities are the administrative/territorial unitsof the Republic of Armenia. The provinces comprise rural and urbancommunities.

The communities execute local self-governance. The bodies of lo-cal self-governance are elected for a three year term with the purpose

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69

of administering community property and resolving issues of com-munity significance. These bodies are the council of elders of thecommunity comprising between five and fifteen members, the headof the community: city mayor, village head.

The head of the community forms his/her administration.The council of elders endorses the budget of the community, con-

trols the execution of the budget, defines local taxes and payments.State governance is administered in the provinces (marz). The cen-

tral government appoints and relieves provincial governors (marzpets),that administer the regional policies of the Cabinet, coordinate theoperation of provincial services of the republican executive.

The city of Yerevan possesses the status of a province. The mayorof Yerevan is appointed by the President of the Republic upon thenomination by the Prime Minister. Local self-governance withinYerevan is administered in district communities.

THE PROVINCES OF ARMENIA

province provincial population settle- urban ruralcentre as of 1996 ments commu- commu-

(thousands) nities nities

1 Aragatsotn Ashtarak 162.5 121 3 112

2 Ararat Artashat 305.0 98 4 93

3 Armavir Armavir 315.5 98 3 4

4 Gegharkounik Gavar 272.4 98 5 87

5 Kotayk Hrazdan 325.9 69 7 60

6 Lori Vanadzor 392.4 130 8 105

7 Shirak Gyumri 358.3 131 3 116

8 Sunik Kapan 161.9 135 7 106

9 Tavoush Ijevan 154.8 65 4 58

10 Vayots Dzor� Yeghegnadzor 68.3 55 3 41

11 Yerevan Yerevan 1,249.4 1 12 �

total 3,766.4 1,001 59 872


70

THE COMMUNITIES OF THE CITY OF YEREVAN

1. Ajapniak 7. Kanaker-Zeytoun2. Arabkir 8. Malatia-Sebastia3. Avan 9. Nor Nork4. Centre 10. Nork-Marash5. Davtashen 11. Noubarashen6. Erebouni 12. Shengavit

THE JUDICIARY

Justice is administered in the Republic of Armenia exclusively bythe courts of law in conformity with the Constitution and the laws. Incases provided for by the law the legal proceedings involve the par-ticipation of a jury.

In the Republic of Armenia the courts of general jurisdiction arethe courts of the first instance, the review courts and the cassationcourt.

Economic courts, military tribunals and other courts provided bylaw also operate in the Republic of Armenia.

The establishment of extraordinary courts is prohibited.The guarantor of the independence of the judiciary is the Presi-

dent of the Republic of Armenia. He/she is the head of the Councilof Justice.

The judges are appointed for a term that expires upon their reach-ing the age of 65. Their powers cease only in the cases and by theprocedure defined by the Constitution and the laws of the Republicof Armenia.

In administering justice the judges are independent and are gov-erned only by the law.

STATE HOLIDAYS AND REMEMBRANCE DAYS

The following are the state holidays and remembrance days in theRepublic of Armenia:

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From December 31 to January 6 � Christmas holidays. Decem-ber 31, January 1, 2 (New Year) and 6 (Christmas and Epiphany)are days off.

April 7 � Day of motherhood and beauty (day off). On this daymen give presents to their mothers, wives, sisters and girlfriends.

April 24 � Remembrance day of the victims of Armenian Geno-cide (day off).

May 9 � Victory and peace day (day off). On this day Armenianshonour the memory of hundreds of thousands of their sons that foughtagainst fascism during the second World War in the ranks of theArmed Forces of the Soviet Union and Allied Powers.

May 28 � The day of the First Republic (day off).

July 5 � Constitution day (day off).

September 21 � Independence day (day off). On September 21,1991, the free and independent Republic of Armenia was proclaimedpursuant to the result of a national referendum.

December 7 � Day of remembrance of the victims of the earth-quake of 1988.

ARMENIA ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE

The basic principles of the foreign policy of the Republic of Ar-menia are affirmed in the Constitution:

�The foreign policy of the Republic of Armenia is carried out inconformity with the rules of international law with the purpose ofestablishing good neighbourly and mutually beneficial relations withall states.�

The government of the Republic of Armenia is called upon toimplement this constitutional principles.

Presently (as of July, 1999) the Republic of Armenia has establisheddiplomatic relations with 125 countries.

71 states have accredited their ambassadors in the Republic of Ar-menia.


72

Armenia has accredited its ambassadors and representatives in 42states and 7 international organizations.

MEMBERSHIP TO INTERNATIONALORGANIZATIONS (A SAMLING)

The United Nations Organization (UN)The United Nations Organization on Education, Science and

Culture (UNESCO)The Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)The World Health Organization (WHO)The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)The United Nations Organization of Industrial Development

(UNIDO)The Universal Postal Union (UPU)The International Telecommunications Union (ITU)The International Labour Organization (ILO)The International Civil Aeronautics Organization (ICAO)The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)The North Atlantic Co-operation Council (NACC)Interpol (INTERPOL)The International Organization for the Protection of Monuments

(ICOMOS)The International Organization of Satellite Telecommunications

(INTELSAT)The International Bank of Reconstruction and Development

(IBRD)The International Monetary Foundation (IMF)The United Nations Organization of Food and Agriculture (FAO)The International Foundation for Agricultural Development

(IFAD)The Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)The International Standardization Organization (ISO)The International Organization of Migration (IOM)

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The International Agency of Atomic Energy (IAEA)The Convention on wetlands of international importance espe-

cially as waterfowl habitat (RAMSAR)The International Road Traffic Organization (IRTO)The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific

(ESCAP)

DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS OF FOREIGN STATESACCREDITED IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

(AS OF JULY, 1999)

COUNTRY ADDRESS TELEPHONE FACSIMILE

AFGHANISTAN Moscow, 3/2 Sverchkov per. 9287278 9219563

ALBANIA Moscow, 3 Mytnaya str. 2307732 2307635

ALGIERS Moscow, 1a Krapivinskiy per. 2307875 2307635

ARE Yerevan, Hrazdan hotel 537304 AT&T

530153 151160

ARGENTINA Moscow, 4/10 2991670Sadovaya-Triumphalnaya str. 2990367 2004218

AUSTRALIA Moscow,13 Kropotkinskiy per. 9566070 9566170

AUSTRIA Vienna, MFA 421-53115 431-5354530

BELGIUM Moscow, 7 4 Stoloviy per. 2910531 29160052916018

BRAZIL Moscow, 54 Gertsen str. 2304022 2001285

BURUNDI Moscow, 2302564 23020091 Kalugskaya Pl. # 226, 227

CAMBODIA Moscow, 2014736 956657316 Starokonyushenny per. 2012115

CANADA Moscow,23 Starokonyushenny per. 9566666 2495882

Honorary Consul 567903Yerevan, 25/22 Demirjian str. 0-1-401238

CZECH rep. Moscow, 12/14 JuliusFuchik str. 2510540/45 2302012

CROATIA Athens


74

CUBA 9 Leontyevskiy per., Moscow 2902882 2906358

CYPRUS Moscow, 51 Nikolskaya STreet 2902154 20012542913726

DENMARK Kiev, 45 Vladimirovskaya str. 22933402294537 2291831

DPRK 72 Mosfilmovskaya Str., 1436249 9382195Moscow

ETHIOPIA Moscow, 2881616 28066086 Orlovo-Davidovskiy per. 2801676

FINLAND Vale-e Asr Ave, 8774985 8889107Zip 14356, Tehran, Iran

FRANCE Yerevan, 561103 AT&T8 Grigor Loussavorich str. AT&T 151105

151095

GABON 16 Denezhni Per., Moscow 2411585 2440694

GEORGIA Yerevan, 42 Aram str. 564357585511

GERMANY Yerevan, 29 Charents Street 523279 AT&T569185 151112524581

GHANA Moscow, 14 Skatertny per. 2021870/71 20229412021890

GREAT Yerevan, 28a Charents str. 533081 AT&TBRITAIN AT&T 151807

151841/842

GREECE Yerevan, Hrazdan hotel 537103 AT&T530051 151170

GUINEA (rep. of) Moscow, 6 Pomerantsev per. 2013601 2202138

THE HOLY SEE Tbilissi, 40 Zhgenti str. 941305 293944

HUNGARY Moscow, 9382197 143462562 Mosfilmovskaya str. 1438611/15

ICELAND Moscow, 9567604 956761254 Mosfilmovskaya str. 9567605

INDIA Yerevan

INDONESIA Kiev, 14/12 2274643Nikolsko-Botanicheskaya str.

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75

IRAN Yerevan, 1 Boudaghian str. 529830 AT&T280457 151385

233991

IRELAND Moscow, 5 Grokholsky per. 7420901 7420920

ISRAEL Tbilissi, 95170961 David Amashenebeli str.

ITALY 5 Denezhny per., Moscow 2411533 25392892411534

JAMAICA Moscow, 7 Koroviy val, # 70-71 2372320 2302102

JAPAN Moscow, 12 Kalashniy per. 2918500/01 2023248

JORDAN Tashkent

KOREA (rep. of) Moscow, 14 Golubkina str. 9382805/29 9562434

2035087

KYRGIZSTAN Moscow, 2374601 237488264 Bolshaya Ordinka str.

LEBANON Yerevan, 7 Vardanants str. 526450 AT&T561327 151128589874

MALAYSIA Moscow, 50 Mosfilmovskaya str. 9566817 1471526

MALI Moscow, 11 Novokuznetskaya str. 2310655 2302889

MEXICO Moscow, Bolshoi Levchinskiy per. 2015631 2302042

MOLDOVA Kiev 2952653 2956703

MOROCCO Moscow, 8 Perechistensky per. 2017351 230206720173952017284

NEPAL Moscow, 2440215 244000014/7 2nd Neopalimovskiy per.

NIGERIA Moscow, 13 Kachalova str. 2903783/85 9562825

THE NETHERLANDSMoscow, 6 Kalashniy per. 7972900 7972904

2028856

NORWAY Moscow, 7 Vorovskiy str 9562005 9562647

PHILLIPINES Moscow, 6 Karmanitskiy per. 24105632413870

PORTUGAL Moscow, 1 Botanicheskiy per. 2803319 2809203


76

PRC Yerevan,12 Marshal Baghramian ave. 560067 AT&T

561234 151143AT&T151125

ROMANIA Yerevan

RUSSIA Yerevan, 567427 50523713a Grigor Loussavorich str. 582463 582463

576557

SAR Kiev, 7 Chervonoarmeyskaya str.

SLOVAKIA Moscow, 17/19 Julius Fuchik str. 9564920 9732081

SLOVENIA Athens

SOVEREIGN MILITARY

ORDER OF MALTA Yerevan

SPAIN Moscow, 50/8 Gertsen str. 2022161 20012302881620 2881757

SWEDEN Moscow, 60 Mosfilmovskaya str. 9561200 9561202

SWITZERLAND Moscow, 2/5 Ogorodnaya Sloboda 9583830 2001728

SYRIA Yerevan, 569011/214 Marshal Baghramian Ave. 524028

507421

THAILAND Moscow, 2080817 29096599 Bolshaya Spasskaya Str.

UKRAINE Yerevan, 58 Yerznkian str. 226951 562436586856507303

URUGUAY Moscow, 38 Lomonossovskiy ave. 1430401

1430404

Honorary consulYerevan, 26/9 Ghazar Parbetsi str. 583156 583156

USA Yerevan,18 Marshal Baghramian ave. 524661 AT&T

520791 151138AT&T 151144

ZAMBIA Moscow, 52a Mira av. 28850012885083

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77

REPRESENTATIONS OF INTERNATIONALORGANIZATIONS (A SAMLING AS OF JULY, 1999)

ORGANIZATION ADDRESS TELEPHONE FACSIMILE

United Nations Yerevan, 14 Liebknecht str. 566073 151453Organization 560212

151452

UN Development Yerevan, 14 Liebknecht str. 581394 151452Programme 560340 151453

151451

UN Children�s Yerevan, 14 Liebknecht str. 534783 151727Fund/UNICEF 566497

580174151698

UN Department Yerevan, 14 Liebknecht str. 560212 151647of Public information 151647

UN High Yerevan, 14 Liebknecht str. 530945 151450Commissioner for Refugees 567643

151451

UN Department Yerevan, 14 Liebknecht str. 562355 151749of Humanitarian Affairs

UN Population Fund Yerevan, 14 Liebknecht str. 583194 151452560340 151453151451

World Food Yerevan, 14 Liebknecht str. 580538 151725Programme 532358

151572

World Bank Yerevan, 2 Khorhrdarani str. 520992 151787151686

International Yerevan, 528960Monetary Foundation 13 Melik-Adamyan str. 528532

151704


78

International Yerevan, 96 Jrashat str. 522253 151791Federation of Red Cross 561889

151791

International Yerevan, 41 Orbeli str. 273152 151092Committee of Red Cross 262903

151092

International Yerevan, 14 Liebknecht str. 585692 151827Organization of Migration 151827

World Health Yerevan, 8 Toumanian str. 564367 526977Organization

EMBASSIES OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIAABROAD (AS OF JULY, 1999)

COUNTRY ADDRESS TELEPHONE FACSIMILE

Albania Chancery in Athens

Algiers Chancery in Cairo

ARE 20 Mohammed Mozhar, 202-3424157 202-3424158Cairo, Egypt 202-3424159

Argentina 570 Avda. Pte. Roque 541-345-2051 541-345-2467Saenz Pena, Piso-3, 541-345-1882Buenos Aires 1035 541-345-2037

Austria 12-14/1/6 Neubaugasse, 431-522-7480 421-522-74811070 Wien 431-522-7479

Belarus Minsk, 17 Kirova str. 0172-257-153 0172-272-339

0172-223-072 0172-231-321

Belgium 157 France Merje, 322-346-5667 322-346-56671060 Bruxelles 322-346-3058

322-345-7702

Brazil chancery in Buenos Aires

General ConsulateAv Sao Luiz 5511-2557707 5511-31594151192-Conj. 1301 CEP01046-913, Sao Paulo

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Bulgaria 11 20 April str., 1606 Sofia 3592-526-046 3592-526-046

3592-457-970 3592-457-970

Canada 130 7 Delavaz Avenue, 613-234-3710 613-234-3444Ottawa, Ontario K2POZ2 613-234-2790 613-234-2860

Croatia chancery in Athens

Cyprus chancery in Athens

France 9 rue Viete, 75017, 331-4212-9800 331-4212-9803Paris, France 331-4212-9802 331-4212-9801

F.R. Yugoslavia chancery in Athens

Georgia 4 Tetelashvili str., Tbilissi 8832-951-723 8832-990-1268832-964286 8832-985535

Germany Viktoriasrtasse 15, 49228-9572610 49228-9572625Bonn, 53173 49228-9572615

Great Britain 25a Cheniston Gardens, 44171-938-4514 44171-938-2595London W86TG 44171-938-5435

Greece 159 Syngrou Ave., 301-934-5727 301-934-57271st floor. 17121Nea Smyrni, Athens

Hungary chancery in Vienna

India A-153 New Frends, Colony 9111-683-6784 9111-684-75489111-683-3177

Honorary consul: New Delhi 110065

Iran 1 Ostad Shahriar (former 9821-6704838 9821-6700657Arfa Street), Teheran 9821-6704833

Israel 1 Vitron str. 9722-5833053 9722-583053Atolot industrial

Honorary consul: Zone, Jerusalem, Israel

Italy via dei Colli della 396-329-6638 396-329-7763Farnesina 174 00194 Roma 301-935-2187

Kazakhstan 480075, Almaty,578 Seifulin str. 3272-692-932 3272-692-908

3272-625-268

Kyrgizstan chancery in Almaty

Lebanon 95 Mtayleb, Beirut 96144-02952 96144-18860

Luxemburg chancery in Brussels


80

Moldova chancery in Bucharest

Morocco chancery in Cairo

The Netherlands chancery in Brussels

Oman chancery in Cairo

Poland 15 Ul Woziwody 02908, 4822-6420645 4899-6420643Warszawa, Poland

PRC 4-1-61, Tayuan, 8610-65325677 8610-65325654Diplomatic apartments,Beijing, 100600, China

Romania 1 rue Caloesti, apt 5, 401-321-5679 401-321-5679Bucharest 401-321-5930

Russia 2 Armyanskiy per., 095-924-1269 095-924-4535Moscow 10100 095-928-3384

Slovakia chancery in Vienna

Slovenia chancery in Athens

Syria Adnan Maliki, Ibrahim 9631-13732992 9631-13711757Hananu, Damascus, Syria

Thailand 28 B Lake Rujada 2640677 2640678Office Complex

Honorary consul: 193/117Rachadapisek Rd., Klong Toey, Prakanong10110 Bangkok, Thailand

Turkmenistan 744012 Ashgabad, 3632-354418 3632-35441814 Kyoroghly str.

Ukraine 51/50 Artema str., Kiev 044-2164996 044-2166004

Uruguay chancery in Buenos Aires

USA 2225 R Street, NW, (202) 3191976 (202)3192982Washingron D.C. (202) 319-2983 (202) 319-2984200008, USA

Consulate General:

50 North La Clenga Blvd. 1-310-657-6102 1-310-657-7419suite 210, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, 90211

Vatican chancery in London

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PERMANENT MISSIONS TO INTERNATIONALORGANIZATIONS (AS OF JULY, 1999)

ADDRESS TELEPHONE FACSIMILE

UN 119 East 36th Street, 1212-686-9079 1212-686-3934New-York, NY, 10016

UN (Geneva) 64 Route de Troinex, 4122-300-4500 4122-300-4515CH-1256, Troinex,Geneve, Suisse

OSCE 12-14/1/16 Neubaugasse, 431-522-7479 421-522-74811070 Wien 431-522-7480

European Union 157 Franz Merjay, 322-346-5667 322-346-56671060 Brussels 322-346-3058

322-345-7702

CIS Minsk, 17 Kirova str. 0172-257-153 0172-272-3390172-293-072 0172-261-944

NATO 157 Franz Merjay, 322-346-5667 322-346-56671060 Brussels 322-346-3058

Council of Strasbourg 333-882-427-17 333-882-427-17Europe


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Industry

After the collapse of the SovietUnion the state of the Armenianindustry deteriorated drastically,since the well-functioning eco-nomic links that had been in placefor decades no longer delivered.It became obvious that the major-ity of Armenian industrial enter-prises does not have a closed loopproduction cycle and is depen-dant on imported materials orcomponents. In 1990�91 the in-dustrial output plunged, a num-ber of enterprises de facto stoppedand unemployment emerged.The generation of electrical en-ergy declined, since the Arme-nian nuclear power plant was shutdown following the earthquake.

In these circumstances a needemerged to identify new, pre-dominantly local sources of rawmaterials, take measures for themitigation of the energy crisis, toreorient the production lines ofcertain enterprises. At the sametime the process of privatisationof the industry commenced. Ef-forts were undertaken to increasethe reliability of the Armeniannuclear power plant, and in 1996it was recommissioned. The gov-ernment of the republic under-took measures to receive long-term loans from international fi-nancial and banking institutions.Thanks to the measures taken, be-ginning from 1994 inspiring shiftsbecame noticeable in industry: the

ECONOMY

The economic profile of Armenia had been forming through manycenturies. The country has gone through all respective stages of eco-nomic development: from handicraft manufacture to modern indus-try. By the time of proclamation of independence Armenia was pre-dominantly an industrial republic with an advanced scientific andtechnological potential. Following the acquisition of independenceArmenia embarked on a development phase that may be consideredtransitional. Radical transformations are underway in the economythat pursue the objective of establishment of market relations. Sucha transition would present quite a challenge for any country. In Ar-menia these natural problems are further aggravated by the conse-quences of the disastrous earthquake of 1988 and the complicationsdue to the regional tension: the blockade, armed conflict etc.

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volume of industrial output slowlybegan to rise, part of the enter-prises adjusted to the new environ-ment and independently began

looking for resources and markets,steps were taken to introduce com-petitive product lines.

Taking into the account thepeculiarities of the development ofthe republican industry and theaccumulated experience, as well asthe advanced level of the special-ists and workers in the industry itbecomes apparent that it would be

expedient to promote those sectorsthat have relatively low energyconsumption, can boost employ-ment and take advantage of thepowerful scientific and technologi-cal potential of the country. Alongwith the development of marketrelations only those sectors willprosper, whose products securethemselves a niche in the worldmarket. The food processing in-dustry (wines, cognacs, cannedfood, mineral waters, pastries etc.),the light industry (textiles, foot-wear) and building materials pro-duction all answer these criteria.Machine tool production also hasgood prospects for future develop-ment: lathes, instrument making,electronics, computing machinesetc. The principal direction of thedevelopment of the chemical in-dustry should be the so called�small chemistry�: the productionof household chemicals, paints etc.The existence in the republic of anacademic potential allows to de-velop the pharmaceutical andbioengineering industries.

Agriculture

The land in Armenia wasprivatised immediately upon ac-quiring independence: the farm-ers regained possession of their

The Armenian nuclear power plant.Control panel

The cognac distillery in Yerevan

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lands. The livestock and a sub-stantial part of agricultural equip-ment were privatised shortlythereafter. First steps have beentaken towards the establishmentof agricultural farms. Neverthe-less stalling with the privatisationof food processing industry andthe sectors catering to farmingneeds resulted in a situationwhere the country still does nothave established adequate struc-tures for technical servicing offarms and the sale of produce.The creation of such structures aswell as the resolution of an impor-tant problem in the Armeniancontext: irrigation, shall allow toincrease the productivity of farm-ers and ensure a plethora of food.

Transport

Prior to the proclamation ofindependence Armenia waslinked with countries near and farby rail, highway and air traffic.From the beginning of the 1990s,in view of the tension in the re-gion, the Republic of Armeniafound itself in a blockade: the railand highway communication be-tween Armenia and Azerbaijanceased to operate, while the Geor-gian-Abkhaz conflict strangledthe traffic on the railway con-

necting to Russia through Geor-gia.

In these conditions the role ofhighway and especially air routesgrew exponentially. Between1991 and 1996 the Armenian au-thorities succeeded to maintainthe operating condition of themain thoroughfares of the coun-try, as well as to construct theGoris-Stepanakert highway, toupgrade the road leading fromShirak to Javakhk in neighbou-ring Georgia, to build a bridgeacross Arax river that connectsArmenia to Iran.

The air transport is used tocarry passengers to other coun-tries, as well as to import most ofthe freight into the country. Arme-nia is linked by air routes to anumber of cities in the FSU, Eu-rope and Asia. The Yerevan�Zvartnots� airport has becomean important international node.Its significance shall grow furtherwith the commissioning of thenew cargo terminal. Yerevan hasanother airport �Erebouni�, thereare airports in Gyumri, Goris etc.

Trade

After the acquisition of inde-pendence Armenia opened up toa possibility to independently

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participate in world trade. A ne-gative foreign trade balance hasemerged, since the republic is yetunable to ensure the competitive-ness of its products. The princi-pal way to overcome this situationis the development of the econo-my. For the population of Arme-nia that had for decades been ac-customed to food and consumergoods shortage, the abundance offood in the post-independenceperiod was for some time unusual.As in other countries that haveonce undergone the period of ini-tial accumulation of capital, inArmenia too the first investmentswere made into trade. Food andconsumer goods are imported intoArmenia from Russia, Iran, Syria,the United Arab Emirates andother countries.

The social sector

The transition period, callingfor radical transformations in theeconomy and social relations do-main, can not remain painless forall strata of the population. Thesociety in Armenia became strati-fied, part of the population endedup in dire social straits. Between1991�94 the newly created re-public went through a difficultperiod, especially in winter

times. An unwanted phenom-enon emerged for the Armenianpeople: emigration. In the periodmentioned approximately 600thousand people left Armenia,these were predominantly intel-lectuals who resettled in Russia,the USA, other countries. Not allof them succeeded in findingemployment adequate to theirprofession and ensuring a properstandard of living.

The unswerving Armenianpeople, overcoming all hurdles,remained faithful to the objectiveit had chosen and carried on withthe construction of the new soci-ety. The republic received sub-stantial material assistance fromvarious international foundations,benevolent organizations, Diaspo-ra institutions. This assistance hassubstantially alleviated the condi-tion of the most needy parts of thepopulation. Between 1995 and1997 the emigration declined andan inverse trend emerged: the re-turn of Armenians to their home-land. The positive shifts in theeconomy of these years inspire ahope that the Republic of Arme-nia can overcome the precariouscircumstances, face the gravechallenges and ensure the pros-perity of the people.

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The modern educational sys-tem of the Republic of Armeniaallows to successfully resolve theissues of education and upbring-ing of the growing generation,the preparation of highly quali-fied specialists for the economy,culture and management. Lean-ing on the accomplishments ofthe preceding periods, the man-datory education of children anda wide network of higher educa-tional institutions, the currenttarget in the education sector isto ensure the development of agenuinely national school, to in-troduce in the schools and highereducational institutions contem-porary methods and materials, topreserve the high intellectual po-tential characteristic of Armenia.

The principal unit of the second-ary education is the ten-year school.There are about 400 ten-year schoolswith 584 thousand students in Ar-menia today. After the acquisition ofindependence great work has beendone in revising the curricula andcompilation of new textbooks. Anumber of schools have been trans-formed into gymnasiums and col-leges with a professional slant, whichallows to establish a more comfort-able environment for the identifica-tion of student inclinations and their

development. The search for newways of improvement of the systemof popular education carries on.

Tangible changes have takenplace in the higher education sec-tor. The principles of university edu-cation are being introduced. In anumber of universities and insti-tutes research centres and labs havebeen established, thanks to whichthe students now have an opportu-nity to pursue academic research.The rights of higher educational in-stitutions in the development of cur-ricula have been expanded, the sameis true of the preparation of the fac-ulty and the establishment of rela-tions with foreign educational andacademic institutions.

The Yerevan State University isthe oldest contemporary higher edu-cational institution of the republic.It was founded in 1919. Through ap-proximately eight decades of its ex-istence the university has preparedtens of thousands of highly qualifiedspecialists who had worked and stillwork in the economy, the structuresof culture and state governance ofArmenia. Presently (1997) the uni-versity has 8.5 thousand students.The university has 18 departmentspreparing specialists in 100 profes-sions. The university has a branchin the town of Ijevan, a number ofresearch institutes and laboratoriesincluding the centre of Armenology,

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the chair of arts under the aegis ofUNESCO. The university maintainslinks with the universities of a num-ber of countries, exchanges facultyand students with them.

The Yerevan State EngineeringUniversity was founded in 1932.Presently it has 4 thousand students

in its 10 departments. The Engineer-ing University was the first to em-bark on the reforms in higher edu-cation. It offers MA degrees andcourses in a number of social andpolitical disciplines. The Universityhas four branches: in Gyumri, Va-nadzor, Goris and Kapan.

In 1989 two construction depart-ments splintered from the Armenianstate engineering University and be-came the foundation for the establish-ment of the Yerevan ArchitecturalConstruction University, that preparesspecialists in architecture, industrialconstruction and civil engineeringand the technology of construction.

A network of pedagogical educa-tion has been created and is in op-eration in the republic. It is repre-sented by the Khachatour AbovianArmenian state pedagogical institute(Yerevan), the Yerevan ValeriBryusov state institute of foreign lan-guages, the Gyumri Mikael Nal-

bandian state pedagogical instituteand the Vanadzor state pedagogicalinstitute. These institutes preparefor the schools of the republic teach-ers of the mother language and lit-erature, foreign languages, a widespectrum of humanities and naturaldisciplines.

The Armenian state institute ofphysical culture in Yerevan preparesschool teachers of physical training.

The Yerevan state institute of thepeoples� economy and the ArmenianAgricultural Academy (the resultingentity of a merger of the formerYerevan Agricultural and Zooveteri-nary Institutes) prepare specialists for

Yerevan State University. Central building

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different sectors of the economy ofthe Republic of Armenia. The signifi-cance of these two institutions hasgrown in view of the transition of thecountry towards market relations.The Institute of the peoples� econo-my, in particular, has introduced thedisciplines of marketing and manage-ment. The striving of the youth to en-roll in the Yerevan Mkhitar Heratsistate medical university is strong asusual. The university has GP, pediat-ric, dental, sanitary-hygienic andpharmaceutical departments.

The culture and arts sectors arecatered to by the specialists preparedin the Yerevan Komitas state con-servatory (founded in 1923), theYerevan state institute of theatrearts and the Yerevan state instituteof fine arts. The structure of the con-servatory includes the Tchaikovskymusical secondary school, the oper-atic studio and an amateur/folk mu-sic centre. Many students and gradu-ates of the conservatory have suc-cessfully participated in interna-tional musical competitions. The

students and graduates of the Insti-tute of fine arts organize annual ex-hibitions of their work, they partici-pate in various international compe-titions and exhibitions.

The American University of Ar-menia functions in Yerevan since1991, it prepares specialists for theeconomy in conditions of the deve-lopment of market relations.

In the first half of the 1990s anumber of private universities andinstitutes have been founded in therepublic, some of which (�HrachiaAjarian�, �Gladzor�, �David An-hakht�) already enjoy sustainablereputation. Having relatively low en-rollment, these institutions reactfaster to the demands of the society,they create new departments and di-visions and in a number of cases theyprepare specialists in professionsthat are unavailable in public edu-cational institutions. In 1996�97educational year there were 70 pri-vate universities and institutes inArmenia with the enrollment of 20thousand students.

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Until the end of the 1980s thedevelopment of different branchesof science in Armenia scoredmost apparent successes and theresults of some lines of researchwere of the world level.

Research in theoretical and ap-plied mathematics has resulted in

the creation of an Armenian math-ematical school with its renownedrepresentatives Artashes Shahinian,Mkhitar Jrbashian, Sergey Merge-lian. Their findings contributed tothe development of cybernetics inArmenia and the establishment of anew line of production of comput-ing machines.

Substantial success has been re-corded in the physics of elementaryparticles. In 1967 a particle collider

was commissioned in Yerevan. Thisbranch of research was led by themember of the academy ArtemAlikhanian. Thanks to the develop-ment of several new directions inphysics (radiation physics, quantumelectronics) it became possible to es-tablish new sectors of industry: the

radiotechnical and the electronicsindustries.

Research in astrophysics has wonworld acclaim. The Byurakan astro-physical observatory, headed formany years by the member of theacademy Victor Hambartsoumian,became a recognized centre of theastrophysical science. The Arme-nian astrophysicists have discov-ered new stellar systems: the stel-lar associations, they have proven

SCIENCE

The building of the Praesidium of the National Academy of Sciencesin Yerevan

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that the formation of stars is an on-going process in our days.

Research in chemistry and biol-ogy has to a certain extent contrib-uted to the creation in Armenia of

new sectors of industry: the pharma-ceutics and microbiology.

There are several agricultural sci-entific research labs in the republic:of Viticulture, winemaking and fruit-growing, of Agrochemistry and hy-droponics, of Economics and organi-zation of agriculture and a few oth-ers. Significant experience has beenaccumulated in increasing the fertil-ity of grapes and fruits cultivated inArmenia, in the creation of new vari-eties, improvement of the technologyof winemaking, development of newmethods of land cultivation.

Between the 1960s and the 1980sa great number of scientific researchinstitutes, research and developmentlaboratories, design and technologi-cal bureaus were created within thestructure of machine building, che-mical and electrotechnical indus-

tries, that were called upon to re-solve specific technical and techno-logical issues, to contribute towardsscientific and technical progress.

Substantial success has beenachieved in Armenology. The mul-tifarious problems of Armenologyare studied at a number of institutesof the National Academy of Science:of History, Archaeology and Eth-nography, Oriental studies, Litera-ture, Language, Philosophy andLaw, as well as in the Matenadaran,The Historical Museum, the Mu-seum of literature and arts, at thesocial science chairs of higher edu-cational institutions.

The Armenian historians haveidentified and introduced into aca-demic circulation a huge body of fac-tual material pertaining to all periodsof the history of the Armenian people,these materials possess immutableobjective value. The axial problems ofthe history of the Armenian peoplebecame the subject of fundamentalstudies: the ethnogenesis of the Arme-nian people, the patterns and pecu-liarities of its historical development,the history of the national liberationstruggle, of the Armenian Question,of Armenian migratory settlementsand the Diaspora. The critical texts ofthe works of Armenian medieval his-torians have been published, as wellas of foreign sources that contain in-formation on Armenia and the Arme-nians.

The Great telescope of the Byurakanobservatory

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The results of archaeological ex-cavations carried out in Armeniahave won international academicrecognition, these include monu-ments of the Urartian, Hellenisticand early medieval periods.

The centuries old history of Ar-menian literature, its mainstream lit-erary schools, literary liaisons andother problems are dealt with in thestudies of literary historians. Thelegacy of the classical Armenian au-thors has been studied, their workshave been published, the place of Ar-menian literature within the worldliterary process has been defined.

Leaning on the prolific traditionsof the past the study of the develop-ment patterns of the Armenian lan-guage was carried on. Works havebeen elaborated on the grammar,dialectology, lexicography and otherproblems, a great number of variousdictionaries have been published.

In the domain of art history andcriticism works have been createdthat are dedicated to Armenian mu-sic, theatre, fine arts, architectureetc. The interest of the world scien-tific community towards the heri-tage of the Armenian people in artshas increased significantly.

Presently a search is underwayin the republic for new forms oforganization of science. There isa tendency to increase the role ofhigher educational institutions inthe development of academic re-search. The National Academy ofscience and its institutes have re-ceived the right to independentlydetermine the directions of re-search, to prepare and train per-sonnel, the establish new aca-demic divisions etc. Two lineacademies have been established:the Engineering and the Agricul-tural Academies. The links withthe scientific community of theDiaspora have expanded. A num-ber of renowned foreign Arme-nian scholars have been elected tothe National Academy of science.The consolidation of the aca-demic potential of the entire na-tion becomes a possibility of thefuture. The notable positive shiftsallow to accelerate the develop-ment of the national programmefor the advancement of science inArmenia.

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Armenian culture is deeplyrooted in the depth of millennia,many of the values it has createdhave enriched the civilization ofthe world. Since times immemo-rial Armenian culture has comeinto contact with both Westernand Eastern cultures, getting ex-posure to the social progress. TheArmenian national culture hasaccommodated Christian ethicsand the criteria of spiritual val-ues that have determined thegeneral makeup of the Armeniannation. Along with religion andthe mother tongue the Armeniannational culture is an importantfactor in the survival of the Ar-menian people, its assertion inthe contemporary world.

Literature

With the creation of the Ar-menian script in the 5th centurythe literature that possessed richoral tradition prior to that em-barked on a new stage of its de-velopment. Within the past cen-turies Armenian literature hasgone a long way, reflecting in itsworks the historical events in thelife of the Armenian people. Thebest works of Armenian litera-ture of different periods have al-

ways received wide public re-sponse, they have contributed tothe formation of the national-lib-eration mentality of Armenians.

The historical events that havetaken place in Armenia in the1990s have mostly been reflectedin the Armenian periodicals. Ar-menian literature has yet to com-pass what had transpired, the as-cent in the national-liberationmovement that culminated withthe acquisition of independenceand the liberation of Artsakh.

There are a number of literarymuseums and memorial housesfunctioning in Armenia.

The Yeghishe Charents Museumof literature and Arts (1 AramStreet, Yerevan) was founded in1953. The museum preserves manu-scripts, letters and documents ofArmenian authors and artists. Themuseum organizes exhibitions andacademic sessions.

The museum has severalbranches:

in Yerevan � the Memorial houseof novelist Derenik Demirjian(Abovian Str. 29).

in Gyumri � the Memorial houseof poet Avetik Issahakian,

the Museum of poet HovhannesShiraz.

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in Vagharshapat � the Memorialhouse of poet Hovhannes Hovhanne-sian,

in Goris � the Memorial house ofnovelist Axel Bakunts,

in Ashtarak � the Memorialhouse of novelist Perj Proshian,

in the village of Dsekh � the Me-morial house of poet HovhannesToumanian.

The Memorial house of novelistKhachatour Abovian (Yerevan,Kanaker) was founded in 1938 in the

house of the author�s father. A newbuilding was erected for it in 1978,which houses the main exposition.The author�s sculpture (by P. Ter-Manoukian, 1913) is in the court-yard of the museum.

The Memorial house of poetHovhannes Toumanian (40 Mosko-vian Str., Yerevan) was founded in

1953. The first floor of the museumhouses a recreation of the poet�sapartment in Tiflis, where he hadlived the last years of his life.

The Memorial house of poetAvetik Issahakian (32 Zarobian Str.,Yerevan) opened in 1963 in thehouse where the poet had spent theyears between 1947 and 1957. The

The Hovhannes Toumanianmemorial house

The Avetik Issahakianmemorial house

The Yeghishe Charents memorialhouse. The poet�s study

CULTURE AND SPORTS

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study, the bedroom and the livingroom have been preserved.

The Memorial house of poetYeghishe Charents (17 Mashtots Ave.,Yerevan) opened in 1964 in the apart-ment where the poet had spent thelast years of his life. The study ofYeghishe Charents has been recre-ated. The museum maintains a per-manent memorial room in the city ofCharentsavan named after the poet.

The Memorial house of novelistStefan Zorian (24 Zorian Str., Vana-dzor) opened in 1988 in the housewhere the writer had lived from 1964to 1967.

The Memorial house of poetParooyr Sevak (the village ofZangakatoun, province of Ararat)was founded in the poets nativesettlement. Every year on the poet�sbirthday, July 17, the museum holdsa Sevak poetry day. The tombstoneof the poet is in the courtyard of thehouse.

All of the memorial houses pre-serve the manuscripts, letters,memorabilia, documents and photo-graphs pertaining to the lives andwork of the authors concerned.

Music

Armenian music has gone along way from musical folklore tothe different genres of contempo-rary music. The accomplishmentsof Armenian music were exposed

to the world thanks to the worksof Komitas, Alexandre Spendia-rian, Aram Khachatourian, ArnoBabajanian and other composers,as well as the performances of thebest orchestras and performers ofArmenia: the State Choir of Ar-menia, the Komitas Quartet, the�Tagharan� ancient music orches-tra, the Armenian Folk Song andDance Ensemble and others. Themany hardships suffered by therepublic in the transition periodnotwithstanding, the musicalscene of the country is thriving.Even in the hardest wintermonths of 1991�1993 the sym-phony orchestra of the NationalPhilharmonium carried on withits concerts, new performanceswere staged at the AlexandreSpendiarian Opera and BalletTheatre, the Paronian MusicalComedy Theatre, renowned sing-ers went on tours etc.

There are several major musicalcentres in Armenia, including:

The Alexandre SpendiarianState Academic Opera and BalletTheatre (36 Toumanian Str. ,Yerevan) opened in 1933. Throughmore than six decades a great num-ber of operas and ballets from theArmenian and European repertoirewere staged in this theatre.

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The A. Paronian State MusicalComedy Theatre (4 KhorhrdaranainStr., Yerevan) opened in 1942. Therepertoire includes national andEuropean vaudevilles. In 1992 thetheatre received a new building.

The Armenian State Philharmo-nium was established in 1932. It is ablanket organization for a numberof entities: the State Choir of Arme-nia, the Armenian Folk Song andDance Ensemble, the SymphonyOrchestra of Armenia, the PopularMusic Orchestra of Armenia, TheArmenian Folk Instruments Or-chestra, the Komitas Quartet, theGoossan Song Ensemble and others.Many orchestras as well as soloistsof the Philharmonium have success-

fully participated in internationalcompetitions and festivals, toured inforeign countries. The Philharmo-nium has a branch in Gyumri (since1938).

The following are the principalconcert halls of the country:

The Small concert hall of thePhilharmonium (2 Abovian Str.,Yerevan) operates since 1921. It hasbeen the principal concert hall of thecountry for many decades.

The Aram Khachatourian Greatconcert hall of the ArmenianPhilharmonium (46 MashtotsAve., Yerevan) operates since 1953.It is the principal concert hall ofthe country.

The building of the Alexandre Spendiarian Opera and Ballet Theatre

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The Sports and Concert Com-plex (1 Leningradian Str., Yerevan)operates since 1984. The complex is

predominantly used for popularmusic concerts.

The Komitas Chamber MusicHouse (1 Issahakian Str., Yerevan)operates since 1977. The cosy audi-torium of this building is loved byYerevanians. It is used for the per-formances of chamber orchestras,quartets, soloists as well as pipe or-gan concerts.

The halls of the Union of Com-posers and Musicologists of Arme-nia (25 Demirjian Str., Yerevan) andthe Memorial House of AramKhachatourian are also used for soloperformances.

The concert hall of the Retreatof the Union of Composers of Ar-menia (Dilijan) is in operationsince 1978.

There are several memorialhouses of renowned composers inthe Republic of Armenia.

The Memorial House of Alexan-dre Spendiarian (21 NalbandianStr., Yerevan) opened in 1967 in thebuilding where the composer hadspent the last years of his life. Themuseum houses the study of thecomposer, his personal items, manydocuments etc. The museum orga-nizes concerts on its premises.

The Memorial House of AramKhachatourian (3 Zarobian Str.,Yerevan) opened in 1984. The mu-seum includes the house itself (builtin 1947), the exhibition hall, a re-source centre and a concert hall.Materials are exhibited that reflectthe life and work of the composer.

The Aram Khachatourian Greatconcert Hall during a concert

The Komitas Chamber musicHouse. �Tagharan� ensemble

performing

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Fine arts

Throughout centuries immu-table values have been created byArmenians in fine arts: ancientsculptures, frescoes, brilliantsamples of medieval illuminatedmanuscripts, paintings of thecontemporary period. The worldfamous artist Martiros Sarian hasleft a great impact on the devel-opment of modern Armenianpainting. Within the last decadesthe following have created theirbest works: painters Minas Ave-tissian, Hakob Hakobian, GrigorKhanjian and others, sculptorsNikoghos Nikoghossian, LevonTokmajian, Artashes Hovsepian,Ara Haroutiounian and others.Armenian visual arts were alwayscharacterized by a diversity ofstyles and directions, perceptive-ness towards most recent worldtrends, boldness of approaches.

There is a number of art galleriesand museums in Armenia that pre-serve and exhibit rich collections offine art.

The National Art Gallery of Ar-menia (2 Abovian Str., Yerevan) wasfounded in 1921. It has sections ofArmenian, Russian and Western Eu-ropean art. The Armenian art collec-tion exhibited in the Gallery is therichest in the world. Apart from its

permanent exposition the Galleryholds provisional exhibitions (the-matic, personal etc.). The NationalArt Gallery has branches in Gyumri,Gavar, Hrazdan, Martouni, Yegheg-nadzor and Jermuk.

The Museum of Modern Arme-nian Art (7 Mashtots Str., Yerevan)was founded in 1972. The works ofArmenian painters and sculptors ofdifferent generations and directionsare exhibited here.

The Museum of Folk Art (64Abovian str., Yerevan) was foundedin 1978. Its exposition offers an un-derstanding of the different sectorsof Armenian folk art from the old-est times to our days. It exhibitsjewellery, carpets, woodwork, ceram-ics, bone carvings, works of naifpainters etc. The museum hasbranches in Dilijan (province ofTavoush) and Vardenis (province ofGegharkounik).

The Museum of Russian Art (38Issahakian str., Yerevan) was foundedin 1984. It houses the collection of thefamous doctor A. Abrahamian (Mos-cow), donated by him to Armenia.

The Children�s Art Gallery (13Abovian str., Yerevan) is a structuralunit of the Republican Centre ofAesthetic Education of Children. Itwas founded in 1970. It is a uniquemuseum type institution that con-tributes greatly to the aesthetic edu-cation of the growing generation.

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The Martiros Sarian MemorialHouse (3 Sarian str., Yerevan) is inoperation since 1967 and was builtnext to the studio of the artist. Thestudio is presently incorporated intothe exposition.

The Museum of SculptorYervand Kochar (39/12 MashtotsAve., Yerevan) was opened in 1984.The museum exhibits the paintingscreated by Yervand Kochar in dif-ferent periods, as well as scale mod-els of his monumental sculpturesand other materials.

The Memorial House of ArtistHakob Kojoyan (62/7 Pushkin str.,Yerevan) is in operation since 1973.The artist�s studio is a part of themuseum.

The Memorial House of SculptorAra Sargsian (62/7 Pushkin str.,Yerevan) is in operation since 1973.The works of the sculptor pertainingto different periods are exhibited.

The Studio of Artist MinasAvetissian (29, Nalbandian Str.,

Yerevan) is in operation since 1977.The exhibition mostly covers theworks of the last years of the artist�slife. There is also a museum ofMinas Avetissian in the native vil-lage of the artist, Jajour (province ofShirak). A dedicated building wasconstructed to house it.

The Memorial Studio of ArtistGevorg Grigorian (Giotto) (45aMashtots Ave., Yerevan) is in opera-tion since 1990. The museum exhib-its a substantial part of the paintingsof the artist of the Tiflis and Yerevanperiods.

The Museum of sculptor KhorenTer Haroutian (Vagharshapat) is inoperation since 1995. It exhibits theworks of different years donated bythe USA-resident sculptor.

Theatre

Theatre is known in Armeniasince times immemorial. Folkpageants, open air spectacles, ex-posure to classical drama, the

The interior of the Martiros Sarianmemorial house

One of the halls of the NationalGallery of Armenia

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first amateur companies and, fi-nally, the creation of a profes-sional theatre � these are themilestone of the development ofArmenian theatre. Today, thecountry�s great difficulties of gen-eral socio-economic nature not-withstanding, the theatrical lifeof Armenia is still vibrant. Pres-ently over three dozen theatresoperate in Armenia, and the fol-lowing are the most significantamong them:

The Armenian SoundoukianState Academic Drama Theatre (6Grigor Loussavorich Str., Yerevan)is the oldest contemporary theatre inArmenia. It opened in 1922. Withinthe last three quarters of a centurythe theatre has staged almost all clas-sical Armenian plays as well as manyplays of Russian and West Europeanauthors. The theatre is widely ac-claimed as one of the best interpret-ers of Shakespearean tragedies.Throughout the existence of the the-atre several generations of actorshave succeeded each other, the bestamong them have left their mark inthe history of Armenian stage. TheArmenian school of directing washatched in this theatre. There aretwo sculptures at the entrance of thetheatre: of playwright GabrielSoundoukian and of Pepo, the pro-tagonist of his play �Pepo�.

The Yerevan HrachiaGhaplanian Drama Company (28Avetik Issahakian Str., Yerevan) wasfounded in 1967 upon the initiativeof director Hrachia Ghaplanian, af-ter whom it is now named. The the-atre has staged many plays of theclassical and modern Armenian rep-ertoire, as well as of contemporaryEuropean playwrights. Throughthree decades of its existence the the-atre has secured itself a place amongthe leading companies of Armenia.

The Yerevan Chamber Theatre(58 Mashtots Str., Yerevan) openedin 1982. Its repertoire includes pre-dominantly plays of contemporaryArmenian authors, mostly comedies.

The Yerevan Konstantin Stanis-lavskiy Russian Drama Theatre (7Abovian Str., Yerevan) opened in1937. In six decades Russian classi-cal and contemporary plays, as wellas those from Armenian and Euro-pean repertoire were staged in thistheatre.

The Yerevan Young SpectatorTheatre (3 Moskovian Str., Yerevan)opened in 1929. It stages plays by Ar-menian and European authors.

The Yerevan Hovhannes Touma-nian State Puppet Theatre (4 Sayat-Nova Str., Yerevan) opened in 1935.It has stages numerous children�splays that enjoy steady success.

The Gyumri Vardan AjemianState Drama Theatre was founded in1928. It is named after its director

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Vardan Ajemian, who has worked inthe theatre for almost two decades.Many outstanding actors have be-gun their careers in this theatre andsubsequently moved to the capital.The repertory includes plays by Ar-menian and European authors.

The Gyumri S. Alikhanian StatePuppet Theatre was founded in1935. It is the first contemporarypuppet theatre in Armenia. In 1984it was the first in Armenia to stage amarionette performance.

There are state drama companiesin a number of other cities of Arme-nia: Vanadzor, Artashat, Kapan,Goris and elsewhere.

Within the recent years severalprivate theatres were created in Ar-menia, the most popular amongwhich are the following:

The Hamazgain Theatre openedin 1991 in Yerevan upon the initia-tive of actor Sos Sargsian, who be-came the artistic director of the newcompany.

The Metro Theatre opened in1992 in Yerevan.

The Nork Youth Theatre openedin 1987 in Yerevan.

The Arion Theatre opened in1994 in Yerevan.

These companies mostly consistof young actors and directors thatboldly address contemporary themesand look for new ways of artistic ex-pression.

Cinematography

In the beginning of the 1920sthe �Armenfilm� film studio wascreated in the country, HamoBeknazarian became its leading di-rector. The most successful amongthe movies of different years were�Pepo� (the first Armenian soundfilm, director Hamo Beknazarian,1935), �The Triangle� (1967, direc-tor Henrik Malian), �We and ourmountains� (1969, director HenrikMalian), �The colour of pomegran-ate� (1969, director Sergey Para-janov), �Our childhood tango�(1985, director Albert Mkrtchian)and others. In the first half of the1990s, the significant difficulties ofthe country-wide economic crisisnotwithstanding, the Armenianmoviemakers have created a fewsuccessful films. The films of di-rector Vigen Chaldranian �Thevoice of one crying out� (1991) anddirector Arman Manarian �Com-rade Panjouni� (1993) have woninternational prizes. Among docu-mentaries the films of ArtavazdPeleshian �Life� and �The End�filmed in 1993 stand out, as well asthe serial of director HovikHakhverdian �Matenadaran� (pro-ject commenced in 1983) and oth-ers. The recently acquired creative

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freedom is the safeguard of new ac-complishments of Armenian cin-ematography.

The Museum of Sergey Parajanov(15�16 Dzoragyugh, Yerevan) openedin 1991. The collection includesdrawings and sketches of the wonder-ful film director, documents and ma-terials pertaining to Parajanov�sfilms, clippings from the world presson his art, recounting the hard lifeand work of the master.

Sports

Sport is loved in Armenia, al-though only a fraction of thepopulation goes in for it. Almosteverybody else is an ardent fanthat jealously follows the appear-ances of Armenian athletes at dif-ferent competitions or cheers (atthe arenas or by their TV sets)during football matches. The an-nals of Armenian sport containmany bright pages pertaining to

major accomplishments of therepresentatives of Armenia at themost prestigious competitions.The names of famous olympicchampions of different years:gymnasts Hrant Shahinian,Albert Azarian, boxer VladimirYengibarian, pentathlonist IgorNovikov, weightlifter YouriVardanian and others are knownnot only to the fans of the eldergeneration, but also to young ath-letes that hone their skills in theschools headed by these masters.The Yerevan Chess House isnamed after the twice worldchampion chess player TigranPetrossian, the statue of thisgrand master is next to the en-trance of the Chess House. Thefeat of the Yerevan Ararat footballteam in 1973 became a legend,they took the USSR football cupand won the national champion�stitle within the same year.

Sports in Armenia is not onlyhistory to look back at. With the cre-ation of sovereign Armenia the Ar-menian athletes now have an oppor-tunity to independently participatein major international events. In1996 the Armenian national team forthe first time ever appeared at theSummer Olympics in Atlanta (USA)and won two medals (gold and sil-ver), sharing the 41�45th ranking as

The interior of the Sergey Parajanovmuseum

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a team. This is incontestable success,especially when one considers thetotal number of participating coun-

tries: 197. In the same year the Ar-menian male team shared the 5�7thplaces (among 114 national teams) atthe World Chess Olympiad inYerevan, affirming its reputation as

one of the strongest chess teams ofthe world. Armenia�s women�s chessteam took the 20th place (fromamong 71 teams). The Armeniannational football team participates inthe World and European Cups and,although it so far has not registeredgreat success, its faithful fans like tobelieve that the former glory of Ar-menian football shall once againcome center stage.

The republic has the necessarypremises for the development of dif-ferent sports: over 20 stadiums, 100football fields, around 80 swimmingpools, 800 basketball and 1,000 vol-leyball courts, over 1,300 intramu-ral arenas. The major sports facili-ties are the Hrazdan stadium inYerevan (seats 70,000), the Republi-can stadium in Yerevan, which is

The Chess House in Yerevan

The �Hrazdan� stadium in Yerevan

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1. Monument �Mother Armenia�in the Victory park

2. Memorial complex �Armenia�(Cascade)

3. The Youth Palace4. Zoological gardens5. The Mesrob Mashtots

Matenadaran6. Mesrob Mashtots monument7. The American University of

Armenia8. The sports and concert complex9. The museum of the Armenian

Genocide10. The monument to the victims

of Genocide11. The Chancery of the President

of the Republic12. The Praesidium of the National

Academy of Science13. The memorial house of poet

Avetik Issahakian14. The memorial house of

composer Aram Khachatourian15. The National Assembly of the

Republic of Armenia16. Museum of Russian art17. �Armenian cognac� store18. The Yerevan Drama Company19. �Nairi� hotel20. Lower station of cable road21. Monument to Avetik Issahakian

YEREVAN LANDMARKS

22. Museum of sculptor YervandKochar

23. Monument to architectAlexandre Tamanian

24. Museum of poet HovhannesToumanian

25. Sourb Hovhannes church(18th century)

26. �Dvin� hotel27. Central post office28. The memorial house of painter

Martiros Sarian29. Sourb Astvatsatsin church

(Zoravor, 7th�17th centuries)30. Museum of history of Yerevan31. Monument to Martiros Sarian32. Monument to Hovhannes

Toumanian33. A. Spendiarian opera and ballet

theatre and the A. Khachatou-rian Great concert hall

34. Monument to composerAlexandre Spendiarian

35. Monument to composerKomitas

36. Katoghike church (13th century)37. Museum-studio of painter

Minas Avetissian38. Monument to poet Mikael

Nalbandian39. Monument to 5th century

historian Movses Khorenatsi

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106

40. Yerevan State University41. Tigran Petrossian Chess House42. Monument to poet Yeghishe

Charents43. �Ani� hotel44. Children�s Aesthetic Centre45. Art salon46. Memorial house of Yeghishe

Charents47. Children�s railway48. Museum of film director Sergey

Parajanov49. �Hrazdan� central stadium50. Yerevan cognac distillery51. Sourb Sargis church

(15th�20th centuries)52. Central farmer�s market53. Modern Art Museum54. Old Yerevan quarter

(20th century)55. K. Stanislavsky Russian drama

theatre56. Memorial house of Alexandre

Spendiarian57. �Hamazgain� theatre58. National Art Gallery of

Armenia59. Government house60. State history museum of

Armenia

61. Small concert hall of thephilharmonium

62. �Armenia� hotel63. A. Paronian musical comedy

theatre64. �Sevan� hotel65. Monument to revolutionary

Stepan Shahoumian66. �Shirak� hotel67. Gay Jami mosque

(18th century)68. Central bus terminal69. Monument to statesman

Alexandre Miasnikian70. G. Soundoukian Armenian state

drama theatre71. �Erebouni� hotel72. Monument to composer Armen

Tigranian73. The republican stadium74. Monument to the hero of the

national liberation struggleVardan Mamikonian

75. Monument to Russian authorAlexandre Griboyedov

76. Central department store77. �Ayrarat� film theatre78. Circus79. Komitas park. The national

Pantheon

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now under reconstruction and willbecome the first roofed stadium inArmenia, the Sports and ConcertComplex in Yerevan, where a diver-sity of major athletic events may beheld. There is a big sports facility inTsaghkadzor including training hallsand swimming pools, this alpine lo-

cation is also used for winter skiing.Water sports develop on lake Sevanand a number of major reservoirs.

The Republic of Armenia has ac-ceded to a number of internationalsports federations. Links are beingestablished with the sports clubs andunions of the Armenian Diaspora.

The Sports and concert complex in Yerevan

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Some background

Yerevan is one of the oldest citiesof the world, a peer of Rome, Car-thage and Samarkand. Unlike manyother cities, the date of the founda-tion of which is moot or, in the best

case, is obscured by myths and leg-ends and thus subject to guesswork,Yerevan has a �birth certificate�, theauthenticity of which is beyond

doubt. During archaeological excava-tions in the 1950s on the Arin Berdhill within Yerevan city limits a cu-neiform inscription was uncovered,carved on a rock slate upon the or-ders of king Argishti I in 782 B.C.The inscription affirms that king

Argishti I �...built this mighty for-tress and called it Erebouni...�Yerevan derives its name from thefortress Erebouni.

THE CAPITAL OF THE REPUBLICOF ARMENIA � YEREVAN

The exposure of our guests to Armenia usually begins with thecapital city of Yerevan. We shall help them along by providing essen-tial information on the history, the present and the sights of the capi-tal city of the Republic of Armenia.

A panoramic view of the capital of the Republic of Armenia Yerevan

109

Within subsequent centuriesYerevan was seldom referred to inArmenian and foreign sources, al-though it is known that the city was

on a trade roads junction and playeda visible role in the economy of thecountry. The significance of Yerevanbegan to increase when in the begin-ning of the 16th century it becamethe seat of the Iranian governor-gen-eral (of the khanate since 17th cen-tury). Following the accession ofEastern Armenia to Russia Yerevanbecame the centre of the newlyformed Armenian Oblast, later theYerevan Province. Since becoming aprovincial centre Yerevan�s develop-ment accelerated and it acquiredEuropean features. In 1918 Yerevan

became the capital of the Republicof Armenia.

Modern day Yerevan takes up 210square kilometers, its population is1.249 thousand people, that is overone third of the country�s total popu-lation lives in the capital. Yerevan isa major industrial city, a centre ofsocial, political and cultural life ofthe Republic of Armenia.

Relatively few buildings havesurvived in Yerevan that date backfarther than the 20th century, many

of the older structures were of noarchitectural relevance and were de-molished in the course of the recon-struction of the city. Several two orthree storeyed houses in downtown

Old buildings in Yerevan(19th century)

Old buildings in Yerevan(19th century)

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Yerevan are an exception, particu-larly on Abovian (former Astafian,the main street of old Yerevan) andHanrapetoutyan (Republic) streets.

The capital developed along themaster plan of the city, elaborated inthe 1920s by the outstanding Arme-nian architect Alexandre Tamanian.And although the city has long out-grown the limits prescribed by thedeveloper, the principal ideas ofAlexandre Tamanian were treatedwith respect in all subsequent mas-ter plans of development of Yerevan.Tamanian planned the downtown tofollow a radial-circular pattern, theexisting main streets were preservedand the centre of the city was definedto be the Republic square (formerLenin square). The Governmentbuilding designed by Tamanian waserected on this square, it became thedominant structure of the architec-tural ensemble of the square. Duringsubsequent decades the buildings ofthe second government block, hotelArmenia and the Trade UnionsCouncil were added and, along withthe reconstruction of the Historicalmuseum this completed the forma-tion of the architectural ensemble ofYerevan�s main square.

Several more buildings wereerected in Yerevan by Tamanian�sdesigns including, first of all, theOpera and Ballet Theatre. It wasplanned by the architect to have twogreat auditoriums: an opera hall and

a concert hall. The opera section wascompleted by 1939 while the concertsection (the Aram Khachatouriangreat philharmonic hall) was inau-gurated in 1963. The magnificentbuilding of the Opera and BalletTheatre is on the Theatre squaresurrounded by parks. With the in-ception of the democratic movementin Artsakh and Armenia the Theatresquare was used for the multitudi-nous rallies where the people venti-lated their attitudes. Since then thesquare received the popular moniker�Liberty Square�.

Tamanian�s master plan of Yere-van allocated the Northern part ofthe city to student campuses. TheTamanian � designed first buildingof the present-day Engineering uni-versity and the building of thepresent-day Institute of the People�sEconomy laid the foundations for thedevelopment of this part of Yerevan.The buildings of the Medical Univer-sity, the Agricultural Academy andseveral new buildings of the Engi-neering university were added onlater. The campus of the YerevanState University (architect E. Tigra-nian) is next hand (between Charentsand Alex Manookian streets). Thestudent district also houses the Na-tional Library of Armenia, also de-signed by Alexandre Tamanian.

Overhanging the student districton the slope of the Kanaker plateauis an original high-rise that never

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fails to attract the attention of theguests of Yerevan. It is the YouthPalace (architects A. Tarkhanian, S.Khachikian, G. Poghossian, M.Zakarian). The building houses amovie and concert auditorium, awedding hall, lounges, restaurants,cafes, a 500 bed hotel, several studiosand an indoor swimming pool.There are several sports grounds be-hind the Youth Palace followed bythe green massif of the Victory Park.

Across Marshal Baghramian av-enue the complexes of the NationalAcademy of Science (architects S.Safarian and M. Manvelian) and theNational Assembly (architect M.Grigorian) face each other. The Na-tional Academy of Science complexincludes the buildings of the Praesi-dium of the Academy, the Funda-mental Library and a number of in-stitutes (of history, arts, orientalstudies, geology and mechanics).The building of the National As-sembly is auspiciously placed on ahilltop within a park. It has sessionhalls, rooms for standing commit-tees of the National Assembly and amultitude of other functional rooms.

The Sports and Concert Complex(architects A. Tarkhanian, G. Poghos-sian, S. Khachikian, K. Hakobianand G. Mousheghian) stands out byits original architectural solutions. Itis a huge building standing on theTsitsernakaberd hill. The complexhas two auditoriums: big (seats 5

thousand spectators) and small (seats1,300). A rotating platform in-be-tween allows to expand either of theauditoriums by another 1,000 seats.The spacious lobby with a refined in-terior may be used for different cer-emonies. Two flights of stairs lead upfrom street level to the main entranceof the complex, between them thereis a cascade of fountains that add asolemn air to the structure.

The high level of architecture ischaracteristic not only of structuresof social or cultural significance, butalso of certain industrial enterprisesand many residential buildings ofYerevan. Upon entering the cityfrom the direction of the Zvartnotsairport our guests will most probablypay attention to two structures sepa-rated by the Victory bridge over theHrazdan river. On a small hilltop onthe right embankment is the rigidbuilding of the Cognac distillery (ar-chitect N. Markarian) built of redtuff stone. Across the river rightpast the bridge on the left embank-ment is the monumental building of

�Ararat� winery

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the Wine factory (architects R.Israelian and H. Kochar) erected onthe site of the former fortress ofYerevan. The high walls of grey ba-salt are resembling fortress walls.The buildings of the Cognac distill-ery and the Wine factory make upthe architectural ensemble by theVictory bridge built in 1945, theyear of the victorious completion ofthe World War.

Today the architectural profile ofthe capital is hard to imagine with-out the surface pavilions of some ofthe Yerevan subway stations. Fromamong the downtown stations the�Republic square� and �Yeritasar-dakan� (Youth) stand out. The sur-face part of the �Republic square�

station (architects J. Torossian andR. Minassian) is on two levels. Thelower level is a cosy patio in frontof the main entrance, there is afountain in the centre whose jetsreach the upper level of the station.

The surface pavilion of the�Yeritasardakan� station (architectsS. Kyurkchian) is an original struc-ture. The escalator tunnel emergesthrough the lobby of the station tothe surface in the form of a widetube aiming at heavens andcrowned with a skylight. The tubeadds a dynamic dimension to thewhole structure.

The Churches of Yerevan

Only four churches have survivedwithin the centre of the capital. Theoldest among these is the Katoghikechurch (of Virgin Mary), built in the13th century. This church once hada nave flanked by two side-chapelsas well as an atrium of which onlythe apse with the altar have sur-vived, the rest was demolished in the1940s during the development ofdowntown Yerevan. These survivingfragments, badly in need of restora-tion, are now within the courtyardof the building of the Language In-stitute of the National Academy ofScience (the corner of Abovian streetand Sayat-Nova avenue).

Hidden among tall residentialbuildings between Martiros Sarianand Pushkin streets is the church ofSt. Apostle Anania, also called theZoravor church. According to lorethe church was founded in the 7thcentury by apostle Anania. In 1679it collapsed during an earthquakebut was rebuilt in 1694. Today it is

The surface pavilion of the�Yeritasardakan� (�Youth�) subway

station

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one of the most frequented churchesof Yerevan.

At the beginning of Mashtots av-enue is the Sourb (Saint) Sargis,built in the middle of the 15th cen-tury. It suffered damage during anearthquake in 1679 but was restoredfive years after. The next reconstruc-tion of the church took place be-

tween the 30s and 40s of the last cen-tury and it was rebuilt one more lasttime in 1969, assuming its currentlook. The chancery of the arch-bishop of the Ararat See of the Ar-menian Apostolic church is builtnext to the church.

Apart from those mentioned thefollowing churches have survived:

The Zoravorchurch

The SourbSarkis church

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Sourb Hovhannes in Avan (6th cen-tury, partly destroyed), SourbAstvatsatsin and Sourb Hakob inKanaker (1695) as well as SourbHovhannes in Kond (1710).

In the year 2001 the Armenianpeople shall commemorate the1700th anniversary of adoption of theChristian faith in Armenia. On thisoccasion the Armenian Apostolicchurch has decided to erect a Cathe-dral of St. Gregory the Illuminator inYerevan, it will be the biggest churchin Armenia. The Cathedral will bebuilt at the end of the Circular bou-levard on a small hill across the�Zoravar Andranik� subway station.

Parks, boulevards andplazas

of Yerevan make up the greenzone of the city. The Circular boule-vard, which is rather a horseshoethan a closed loop, encircles down-town Yerevan. One end of the horse-shoe points at �Ayrarat� film theatre(Tigran Mets street), while the otherreaches the Theatre square and theplaza with the sculpture of thepainter Martiros Sarian across it.Along the entire length of the Cir-cular boulevard (5 kilometers) thereare beautiful fountains and ponds,dozens of cafes, small restaurantsand cosy shaded corners. By virtueof all this the Circular boulevard isone of the recreation areas mostloved by Yerevanians.

The oldest boulevard of Yerevanis between the Republic and Sha-houmian squares. There is a fountainwith 2,750 small jets here, built in1968 to celebrate the 2,750th anniver-

sary of the foundation of Yerevan.There is a green massif betweenShahoumian square and GrigorLoussavorich street that is split intwo by Shahoumian street. The lefthand side of the park (with one�s backto Shahoumian square) is called theEnglish Gardens (oldest in town)where the building of the ArmenianSoundoukian Drama Theatre is. Theright hand side is the Children�s parkwith many attractions.

The Main Avenue boulevard isanother recreation zone in down-town Yerevan, pursuant to the mas-ter plan it should cross the centreof the city from Sarian street (theMain Post Office) to Khanjianstreet. Two sections of the boulevard

A part of the Circular Boulevardwith the sculpture �Hands�, given

to the city of Yerevan by the popula-tion of the Italian city of Carrara

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are already in place: stretching fromSarian street to Terian street andfrom Nalbandian street to Khanjianstreet. There are lawns, fountainsand ponds along the boulevard, thepedestrian lanes are paved with ba-salt.

The recreation zone in theHrazdan river canyon includes theKhachatour Abovian park with thechildren�s railroad on the left bankof the river and a section of bothembankments almost 15 kilometerslong. The zone comprises a systemof parks, and the shallow dams alongthe river flow have increased thespace of water. The zone culminateswith the artificial Yerevan lake thatfills a dilation of the Hrazdan can-yon. The Hrazdan river canyon isone of the most popular rest areas forYerevanians in the Summer months.

The park on the Tsitsernakaberdhill, the Hakhtanak (Victory) parkwith the monument to Mother Ar-menia, the Botanical Gardens andthe Zoo in the Avan pass, theKomitas park with the national Pan-theon and others also cover a lot ofgreen ground.

The �Armenia� Memorial-Archi-tectural complex (better known as the�Cascade�, architects J. Torossian, S.Gourzadian et al) is currently in thefinal stage of its construction. Theguests of Yerevan will no doubt paydue attention to this original struc-ture, since it is visible from many lo-

cations in the capital. It is built onthe slope of the Kanaker hill andcomprises a cascade of five tiers ofroofed halls, courtyards and plazas,fountains and cafes flanked on twosides by flights of stairs. The left handside houses a system of escalators.The stairs or the escalators can beused to access the scenic view open-ing from the top, where there is alsoa monument symbolizing the statepower of Armenia. The spacious hallson all five tiers shall be used for dif-ferent exhibitions. The first tier shallhouse three grand frescoes by artistGrigor Khanjian; �The ArmenianAlphabet�, �Vardanank� (dedicatedto the Avarayr Battle of 451) and�Renaissance� (dedicated to the res-toration of Armenian indepen-dence). There is a stele on the levelof the fourth tier, dedicated to theadoption of Christianity by the Ar-menian people. The memorial com-plex as a whole is called upon to per-petuate the most significant eventsin the history and culture of the Ar-menian people. It is built of whitestone that highlights it on the back-ground of the green hill. The com-plex connects the centre of the city(the district of the Opera and BalletTheatre) to the �Hakhtanak� park.The absolute height (vertical span ofthe structure from top to bottom) is100 meters, the total length is ap-proximately 500 meters and thewidth is 50 meters.

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Apart from the museums de-scribed in the preceding sectionsof this guide, there are severalothers in Yerevan that are a mustin our guest�s itinerary.

The State History Museum of Ar-menia (the Republic square), theoldest among Armenian museums,was founded in 1921. Its permanentexposition covers the entire historyof the Armenian people from primi-tive society to our days. Artifactsfrom the excavations of monumentsof different eras are on display.These include the tools of primitiveman, weapons and utensils repre-senting the Urartian period, otherArmenian states, as well as sculp-tures, ornaments and handiworksfrom different historical provincesof Armenia. The halls dedicated tomodern and contemporary Arme-nian history display documents, in-

dustrial samples, books and materi-als pertaining to the state-building,socio-economic and cultural devel-

opment of Armenia. The museumhas one big advantage: genuineitems prevail among its exhibits.The museum also organizes the-matic exhibitions dedicated to vari-ous prominent dates of Armenianhistory and culture.

The museum of the history of thefoundation of Yerevan is called theErebouni Museum and was built in1968 in the Southwestern part of thecapital at the foot of the Arin-Berdhill. The Urartian citadel Erebouniis on the top of the hill. The museumis within the structure of a memo-rial reserve that includes, apart fromArin-Berd, the archaeological monu-ments of Karmir Blour andShengavit. The Erebouni museum

State History Museumof Armenia. Urartian carriages

�Erebouni� museumat the foot of the Arin-Berd

hill

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displays exhibits pertaining to theUrartian period: weapons, armour,cuneiform inscriptions. A visit to themuseum includes an uphill tour ofthe restored sections of the Erebounifortress.

The Museum of the ArmenianGenocide opened in 1995 during thecommemoration of the 80th anniver-sary of the genocide of the Armenianpopulation of Western Armenia andTurkey, perpetrated between 1915�1916. The building of the museumis on the hilltop of Tsitsernakaberd(Fortress of Swallows) within theterritory of the Memorial to Geno-cide Victims. The two-storeyedstructure is placed in the slope of the

hill in such a way as not to obstructthe view of the Memorial. The topfloor houses three semi-circular hallswith exhibits of documents and pho-tographs disclosing the history of thepreparation and perpetration of theArmenian Genocide by the Turkishauthorities. Materials of various in-ternational organizations and statescondemning the genocide are alsoon display. The lower floor housesthe library, the document depository,a conference hall and other rooms,since the museum is also the Arme-nian genocide research centre.

The Matenadaran i s theMesrob Mashtots Research Insti-tute of Ancient Manuscripts. It has

Matenadaran, the Mesrob Mashtots Institute of ancient manuscripts

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a permanent exhibition which allowsit to be classified with the museums.The imposing building of the Mate-nadaran (architect Mark Grigorian)crowns the upper part of Mashtotsavenue that leads to the foot of theKanaker plateau. A visit to theMatenadaran shall expose our gueststo the richest legacy of the Armenianpeople in manuscripts, most of whichis preserved in the Matenadaran. Theexposition displays fragments of an-cient manuscripts dated by the 5th to6th centuries, medieval manuscriptsof different content: copies of theBible, historical works, theologicaland philosophical treatises, dis-courses on natural sciences etc. Theexhibition allows to appreciate thethe mastery of Armenian miniaturepainters that have created marvelloussamples of manuscript illuminations.A monument to the creator of theArmenian alphabet St. MesrobMashtots (sculptor Ghoukas Chou-barian) is in front of the Matena-daran. On both sides of the entrancethere are sculptures of outstandingfigures of medieval Armenian cul-ture: historian Movses Khorenatsi,mathematician Anania Shirakatsi,poet Frik, jurist Mkhitar Gosh, phi-losopher Grigor Tatevatsi, artist To-ros Roslin. The interior of the build-ing is decorated by a mosaic paneland frescoes depicting scenes fromArmenian history (painter Van Kha-chatour).

Monuments of Yerevan

There are quite a few monu-ments erected in Yerevan. Mostof them are in memory of Arme-nian cultural figures, thus ex-pressing the appreciation the Ar-menian people feels for its out-standing sons and daughters.

We shall begin our outline of themost significant monuments of thecapital from the monument toDavid of Sassoun, the hero of theArmenian folk epic. The monu-ment (sculptor Yervand Kochar) ison the railway station square in themiddle of a pond. The horse and therider are sculpted in dynamic unity.The sculptor has succeeded in ex-pressing the virile appearance ofDavid, the defender of the father-land from foes. According to theopinion of experts from many coun-tries the monument to David ofSassoun is one of the best modernequestrian statues in the world.This monument has long becomethe symbol of Yerevan, and this isthe best tribute to the sculptor.

By walking along the Circularboulevard from one end to the otherone may observe several monumentsto outstanding figures of Armenianculture. The monument to com-poser Armen Tigranian (sculptorAra Hovsepian) is quite unortho-dox in its form. The monument topoet Yeghishe Charents (sculptor

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Nikoghos Nikoghossian) is a com-plex ensemble. The same sculptorhas authored the monument to poetMikael Nalbandian: the statue ofthe poet is standing freely on a widestone slab without the usual pedes-tal. The monument to poet AvetikIssahakian (sculptor S. Baghdassa-rian) is more traditional: the figureof the poet/philosopher is on a ped-estal in a meditative pose that is wellremembered by all who have seenhim in his lifetime. The monumentto poet Sayat-Nova (sculptor A.Haroutiunian) is interesting: thefine bust of the poet is built into awall of white marble. There is a bas-relief of dancing girls on the face ofthe wall, reminding us that the greatgussan (minstrel) was also a musi-cian. Quite close to him, in a plazaby the conservatory building, is amonument to composer Komitas, the

author of which is also A. Harou-tiunian. The composition of themonument to architect AlexandreTamanian (sculptor A. Hovsepian)is also quite interesting, the archi-tect is leaning over a table with themaster plan of the development ofYerevan, the entire �Cascade� maybe seen in the background. Themonument to Alexandre Tamanianis one of the very few monuments toarchitects in the world. The sculp-ture gallery of the great figures of Ar-menian art is closed by the monu-ment to painter Martiros Sarian(sculptor Levon Tokmajian). Thefigure of the artist, carved out ofwhite marble, is in drastic contrastwith the surrounding trees.

The monument to David of Sassoun

The monument to Armen Tigranian

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There are also several monu-ments to historical figures. Themonument to the hero of nationalliberation struggle of ArmeniansVardan Mamikonian (sculptorYervand Kochar) is in the Southernsector of the Circular boulevard. Themonuments to revolutionaries andstatesmen Stepan Shahoumian(sculptor Sergey Merkourov) andAlexandre Miasnikian (sculptor AraShiraz) are set aside by theirmonumentalism, these are standingon squares named after them.

Every year on April 24, on theday of remembrance of the Arme-nian genocide of 1915�1916 hun-dreds of thousands of Yerevanianscome to the Tsitsernakaberd hill, to

the Memorial complex of the vic-tims of the genocide (architects S.Kalashian and A. Tarkhanian). Thememorial comprises a Remem-brance atrium, the Resurrectionobelisk and a Memorial wall. TheRemembrance atrium is the centreof the ensemble, it is a depressedcircular space with an eternal flameburning in the centre surroundedby twelve staunch basalt pylonsleaning towards the flame. Thecleaved obelisk is rising next to it,it is faced with metal and symbol-izes the rebirth of the people thathas survived the tragedy. The com-plex has austere lines and is devoidof ornaments. The memorial wallhas inscriptions carved on it withthe names of the locations andsettlements whose population wassubjected to massacres, as well as of

the places where the Armenianshave come up with resistance to theravagers. The Memorial is emotion-ally charged and leaves a strong im-pression on the visitors.

The monument to Yeghishe Charents

The monument to AlexandreTamanian

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There are many samples of smallarchitectural forms in Yerevan.These are khachkars, memorialdrinking fountains, decorative fig-ures, stelae. More often than notthese are erected in lieu of memorialplaques and the like. Such items maybe encountered in the city�s parks,boulevards, sidewalks etc. Apartfrom these there are also memorialdrinking fountains erected by the

next of kin in memory of their deadloved ones. All of these combinedadd a special decorative touch to thecity of Yerevan.

The monument to Martiros Sarian

The sculpture of a flower vendor inYerevan. The flower vendor was a

colourful person well known toYerevanians, he was the city�s livingattraction for a long time. The lorehas it that he did not sell flowers tobeautiful girls, he gave them away

The principal museums, churches, theatres, concert halls, important build-ings, monuments, parks, boulevards and plazas are marked on the map ofdowntown Yerevan, that will help our guests to better orient in the city andselect the routes of their promenades.

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Armavir province

The province of Armavir bor-ders on Yerevan from the West.The administrative centre of theprovince is the town of Armavir,48 kilometers away from Yerevan.

The historical and cultural cen-tre of the province is the city ofVagharshapat. It was founded byking of Armenia Vagharsh (117�140A.D.), who named the city after him-self. In 163 A.D. Vagharshapat wasmade the capital of Armenia. Themain attraction of Vagharshapat isthe monastery of St. Ejmiatsin.

St. Ejmiatsin monastery spansthe territory of 80 thousand squaremeters in the centre of Vagharsha-pat. The Sourb Ejmiatsin Cathe-dral, the residence and chancery ofthe Catholicos of all Armenians,the Seminary, the Alex and MarieManookian Museum, the printing

house and editorial offices of the�Ejmiatsin� monthly, a hotel, thecongregation�s chambers are all lo-cated on this territory. The Cathe-dral is the oldest Christian churchin Armenia. Its building began inthe 4th century immediately uponthe adoption of Christianity.

HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURALMONUMENTS OF ARMENIA

�Armenian is an open air museum� � however trite the phrase maybe, it still holds true. Armenia has historical and architectural monu-ments of all ages and periods: from the primitive communal societyto modern times. It would be an insurmountable task to try and tell,even in a nutshell, about all of them. Therefore this section of theguide presents only the most remarkable monuments of the past andthe present.

We shall travel through all ten provinces (marzes) of the country,beginning with those closest to Yerevan.

The residenceof the Catholicos of all Armenians

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According to a church legend, thesite of the Cathedral was indicatedto Gregory the Illuminator (Loussa-vorich) by Jesus Christ himself in arevelation. During the centuries thatpassed the Cathedral was rebuiltmany times. Even laymen not versedin the finer aspects of architecturemay identify the masonry distinctiveof different periods. In the begin-ning of the 19th century the interiorof the Cathedral was decorated bythe painter Naghash Hovnatanian,the latter�s work was restored for thelast time in the 50s of this century.St. Ejmiatsin is currently the biggestcathedral of the Armenian Apostolicchurch. It is especially crowded dur-ing religious festivals when the massis offered by the Catholicos of allArmenians.

In the second half of the 19th cen-tury an annex (sacristy) was attachedto the Cathedral from the East,which housed the museum of St.Ejmiatsin. The museum premiseseventually became too crammed forthe numerous relics as well as giftsgiven by the believers from manycountries of the world. In the 1980sa special building for the museumwas erected next to the residence ofthe Catholicos, underwritten by thefamous benefactor Alex Manookian(USA) and named after the benefac-tor and his spouse. The Alex andMarie Manookian Museum pre-serves highly praised ritual utensils,

crosses, staffs, jewellery, vestments,painting etc.

The chancery of the Catholicoshas a small matenadaran (library)with approximately 1,200 manu-scripts.

Outside of the monastery of St.Ejmiatsin there are other famous ar-chitectural monuments in Vaghar-shapat. The magnificent church of St.Hripsime may be seen upon enteringthe city from the Yerevan highway. Itwas built in 618 A.D. by CatholicosKomitas on the site of the legendarymartyrdom of virgin Hripsime thathad fled to Armenia from Rome withher girlfriends. Turning down thecourtship of the heathen Armenianking she had remained faithful to theChristian religion and was thereforekilled. The relics of St. Hripsime arecontained in a tomb under thechurch. The St. Hripsime churchstands out by its stern and monumen-tal forms, solemn and monolithiccomposition, its is rightfully consid-ered one of the masterworks of Ar-menian architecture.

The St. Gayane church is Southof St. Ejmiatsin. It was built in 630over a chapel that had stood on thesite of the martyrdom of Gayane, theleader of Christian virgins who hadfled Rome to Armenia. The churchof St. Gayane has clear forms and asolemn interior.

The Shoghakat church is West ofSt. Hripsime and was built much

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later by the end of the 17th centuryover a 4th century chapel. Accord-ing to lore this was the location of awinery where Gayane, Hripsime andtheir girlfriend hid. The church ofShoghakat follows the central-domed plan widely used in medievalArmenian church architecture.

Five kilometers towards Yerevanfrom Vagharshapat there are the ru-ins of the temple of Zvartnots (thetemple of Vigilant Forces or of Heav-enly Angels). The temple was builtbetween 643�652 A.D. by the designof Catholicos Nerses III, who wascalled thereafter �the Builder�(Nerses III the Builder) for this feat.The temple collapsed from an earth-

quake in the 10th century. In thebeginning of the 20th century, hav-ing studied what remained of theruins of the temple, the outstandingspecialist in the history of Armenianarchitecture Toros Toramanian putforth his own hypothesis of the re-construction of the temple. Accord-ing to his reconstruction the temple

The St. Hripsime church

The ruins of the temple of Zvartnots

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of Zvartnots was a three tiered cen-tral-dome structure that astoundedwith its magnificence. The recon-struction of Toros Toramanian wasnot accepted by his contemporariesunchallenged, but soon thereafterduring excavations in the capital cityof the Bagratid kingdom Ani ascaled model of the Zvartnots temp-le was uncovered that confirmed thereconstruction of Toramanian. Thesurviving fragments allow to forman opinion about the ornaments thatlavishly decorated the temple, manymotifs of the Zvartnots ornamentsare used in Armenian architectureup until our days. According to theopinion of European specialists thetemple of Zvartnots may be rankedwith the greatest monuments of an-cient architecture.

The modest �Zvartnots� mu-seum on the territory of the templeallows to shed more light on the ar-chitectural features and principles ofreconstruction of the temple, its in-fluence on the further developmentof Armenian architecture.

The Armavir province hasmemorials dedicated to heroicevents in the history of the Ar-menian people.

The Monument to the Defendersof Mousa Dagh. The village ofMousaler is approximately halfwaybetween Yerevan and Vagharshapat,it was founded by the natives of Ar-menian villages around Mousa

mountain in Cilicia. In 1915 the in-habitants of these villages stood upagainst deportation orders by theTurkish authorities, went up theMousa mountain, set a fortifiedcamp on the summit and defendedit for the duration of forty days. Themonument is dedicated to the heroicexploits of the defenders of Mousa

Dagh and is built on a hilltop nextto the village of Mousaler. Built bythe design of Raphael Israelian themonument resembles a fortress tur-ret of red tuff stone. It houses a mu-seum of the defence of Mousa Dagh.Every year on the last Sunday inSeptember the descendants of thevaliant defenders of the mountainhold celebrations at the foot of the

The monument to the defendersof Mousa mountain in the villageof Mousaler (Armavir province)


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monument and pay their tribute tothe memory of the heroes of the na-tional liberation struggle. The Aus-trian author Franz Werfel wrote anovel dedicated to the epic of Mousamountain. It is called �The fortydays of Mousa Dagh� and has beentranslated into many languages.

The Memorial Complex of theHeroes of the Sardarapat Battleopened in 1968 ten kilometers awayfrom the town of Armavir. This isthe site where the Armenians won a

victory over Turkish aggressors in1918. The complex includes a bigpark and a high bell tower (symbol-izing the tocsin calling the people toarms), an alley with figures of eaglesthat leads up to a wall with a trium-phal arch. Behind the wall there arethe buildings of a refectory and theEthnographical museum. The Me-morial astounds with its scale, theadroit use of the landscape, the alle-gorical allusions made by the archi-tect (Raphael Israelian) and thesculptors (A. Haroutiunian, S. Mi-

nassian et al) in expressing the domi-nant idea of the ensemble.

The State Ethnographical Mu-seum of Armenia (architect RaphaelIsraelian) is within the territory ofthe Memorial. The building of themuseum is a marvellous accom-plishment of modern Armenian ar-chitecture. It conforms with all therequirements presented to museumpremises, it is monumental, innova-tive and at the same time embodiestraditional architectural forms.

The exposition of the museum isquite rich. It presents a multitude ofmaterials from many historical andethnographic regions of Armeniathat allow to form an idea about thedevelopment of crafts, the peculiari-ties of the lifestyles of the Armenianpeople in different periods.

Ararat province

The province of Ararat adjoinsYerevan from the Southeast. Theadministrative centre of the prov-ince is the town of Artashat, 39kilometers away from Yerevan.

The most significant historicaland architectural monument of theprovince is the monastery of KhorVirap, situated on a hill next to thevillage of Pokr Vedi. The monasteryis one of the sanctuaries of the Arme-nian Apostolic church and a pilgrim-age site. According to church lore thisis the location of the municipal gaol

The State ethnographical museumin Sardarapat. One of the halls

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of the capital of Armenia Artashat,where, upon the orders of kingTiridates III, they threw Grigor, oneof the associates of the king accusedof professing Christianity. Grigor, de-pending on the source, spent 13 or 15years in gaol. The story about thetribulations of Grigor intertwineswith the legend of Gayane, Hripsimeand their girlfriends. Following theexecution of the Christian virgins(300 A.D.) upon the king�s orders thelatter fell gravely ill. The peoplecalled the king�s ailment �swine�s ill-ness�, since his head began to re-semble a pig�s snout. The king�s sis-ter Khosrovdoukht saw severaldreams to the effect that the king can

only be cured by Grigor, then suf-fering in gaol. Khosrovdoukht man-aged to get Grigor out of the gaol.The latter buried the remains of themartyred virgins and then cured theking. Following that the king and hiscourt adopted Christianity andGrigor soon became the first Catho-licos of Armenians (Gregory the Il-luminator).

In 642 Catholicos Nerses III builta chapel over the gaol. In 1662 thechapel was replaced by a new onethat still stands. The gaol whereGrigor suffered is preserved underthe chapel. The monastery also in-cludes the church of Sourb Astva-tsatsin (Virgin Mary) built in the

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end of the 17th century, fragmentsof the wall that once surrounded themonastery, the refectory, the cells ofthe monks etc. A most magnificentview of mount Ararat opens fromthe hilltop of the monastery.

Kotayk province

The province of Kotayk isNorth of Yerevan. The adminis-trative centre of the province isthe town of Hrazdan, 50 kilome-ters away from Yerevan. Theprovince has many monumentsof different historical periods.

The heathen temple in Garni isthe only surviving monument of theHellenistic period in Armenia. Thetemple is dedicated to the god of thesun Mithra and was built in the sec-ond half of the 1st century B.C., dur-ing the reign of king Tiridates I.Most probably it had survived theadoption of Christianity by virtue ofbeing within the territory of thesummer residence of Armenian roy-alty. The temple collapsed duringthe earthquake of 1679.

Today the heathen temple inGarni may be seen in its formersplendour on the background of oneof the most beautiful spots of Arme-nia. The temple was restored in the1970s, using the surviving fragmentsand carving the missing ones anew.

The temple is built of basaltstone. The walls of the shrine and

the 24 columns of the portico rest ona podium (length 15 meters, width11 meters). The facade and the rearhave six columns each, while theflanks have eight each. The portalhas wide stairs leading up to it. Thecapitals of the columns and thefrieze are decorated with ornaments.

The fortress of Garni. The hea-then temple is on the territory of thefortress of Garni. It was impregnableby virtue of the steep rocks of theravine of the Azat river, as well asthe strength of the fortress walls

built of immense basalt blocks. Theterritory of the fortress, that wasused as the Summer residence of Ar-menian royalty, included the palace,the garrison barracks and otherstructures that did not survive. Theroyal bath is of great interest, it isarguably the oldest utility structurein Armenia (3rd century). The mo-saic on the floor of the dressing roomhas survived, it is made of localgems. The subject of the mosaic isborrowed from Greek mythologyand depicts the inception of life in

The Garni canyon in winter

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the seas. The fortress of Garni allowsto form an opinion about the fortifi-cations of ancient Armenia and thestructure of royal residences.

The monastery of Geghard. Sevenkilometers away from Garni in theNortheast of the province of Kotaykis a unique monument, the monas-tery of Geghard. According to the in-formation of Armenian historians asearly as in the 4th century there al-ready was a monastery calledAyrivank (the Cave monastery) inthis inaccessible corner of the Azatriver ravine. The monastery was lo-cated in caves that abound in thenearby rocks. Later the monasterywas renamed Geghard (the word�geghard� means �spear�). Accord-ing to lore the monastery was thedepository of one of the relics of theArmenian Apostolic church: thespear that one of the Roman guardshad used to pierce the rib of cruci-fied Christ. The spearhead is pres-ently preserved in the museum of St.Ejmiatsin.

The monastic complex of Ge-ghard has been preserved and oper-ates to our days. It was built in the13th century and comprises the prin-cipal church (the Cathedral), theKatoghike church (built in 1215 bythe Zacharid princes) and two tiersof churches carved inside the rock(built at the end of the 13th centuryby prince Prosh who boughtGeghard from the Zacharids) and

the living quarters with auxiliarystructures. Although the Katoghikechurch is a marvellous example ofthe cross-domed churches character-istic of Armenian architecture, thevisitors of Geghard are most im-pressed by the rock carved churches.Access to these churches (two smallchurches and an atrium on the lowerlevel and a chapel/burial vault onthe upper) is possible straight fromthe principal church, the Northernwall of which leans against the rock.The adroit and precise design of thebuilders is amazing: they have re-moved a great amount of rock andcarved the cave churches immedi-ately next to the existing Katoghikechurch. What is even more stunningis that these churches possess all ofthe features of conventional chur-ches: domes, arcs, semi-columns, al-tars, ornaments etc.

Having visited Geghard one mayobserve the cells of the monks in thenatural and carved caves. There wasa time when the monastery was a fa-mous cultural centre with its ownschool and a matenadaran (library).

The Kecharis monastery inTsakhkadzor. The Tsakhkadzor re-sort is on the Eastern slope of theTeghenis mountain, 52 kilometersNorth of Yerevan. Tsakhkadzor is fa-mous for its numerous pensions,lodges and sports facilities. There is aski lift leading to the top of the Teghe-nis mountain. The skiing season on


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the mountain slopes lasts for mostpart of the year. The marvellousmonastery complex of Kecharis is inthe Northwestern part of the town.The Kecharis monastery (11th to13th centuries) comprises threechurches and two chapels. Its terri-tory has many khachkars of the 12th

to 14th centuries that organicallyaugment the ensemble of the mon-astery. The principal church ofSourb Grigor Loussavorich is of thecentral-domed type (built in 1033),although the drum has not been pre-served, it collapsed during the earth-quake of 1828. Nevertheless, even

The monastery of Geghard

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without the drum the church is animpressive structure thanks to itsstern style and clear-cut lines. Southof the principal church is the littlechurch of Sourb Nshan (it is believedto have been built in 1031). Next toit is the Katoghike church built laterin the 13th century following the tra-ditional cross-domed pattern. Thefourth church of the monastic com-plex is the Sourb Haroutiun church(Holy Resurrection) built in 1220, itis somewhat distanced from the oth-ers. The monastery has a smallchapel (11th century) with the tombof the founder of the monastery, amajor medieval theologian andstatesman Grigor MagistrosPahlavouni.

The Kecharis monastery used tobe a well-known religious and cul-tural centre of medieval Armenia, itis the place of creation of many im-portant works in theology and otherdisciplines, as well as of numerousmanuscripts.

The Orbeli Brothers Museum.The little museum of Orbeli broth-ers is situated in the centre ofTsakhkadzor, it displays materialsthat shed light on the lives and workof three outstanding scientists: themember of the academy physiologistLevon Orbeli, the member of theacademy orientalist Iossiph Orbeli(the first president of the NationalAcademy of Science of Armenia) andthe jurist, the founder of underwa-

ter archaeology Rouben Orbeli.There is a monument to Orbelibrothers right next to the museum(sculptor A. Hovsepian).

The churches of Yeghvard. Thetown of Yeghvard is 15 kilometersNorthwest of Yerevan. There arereferences to Yeghvard in sources ofthe 7th century and it has valuablearchitectural monuments pre-served. Three kilometers Northeastof Yeghvard there is the church ofZoravor, built in the end of the 7thcentury. It is of the central-domed

A panoramic view of Tsakhkadzor

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type. The drum and the Southernsection of this two tiered churchare gone, but even its present lookallows to rank the church ofZoravor with the s ignif icantmonuments of medieval Armenianarchitecture.

The two storeyed church of SourbAstvatsatsin has slim proportionsand wonderful decorations on theexterior. This very beautiful churchis also a tomb and was built in 1301.It was twice restored: in the 17th and18th centuries.

There are ruins of even olderstructures preserved in Yeghvard:that of a single-nave church and ofa big three-naved basilica (5th cen-tury).

The village of Bjni (referred toearliest in sources of the 5th cen-tury) has two churches preserved.The small church of Sourb Sarkis(7th century) is built of pink tuffon a high rock. It is the smallestamong cross-domed type churches.In 1970 the church underwent res-toration.

The church of Sourb Astvatsatsinis rising in the centre of the village(sources refer to it as a monastery),it was built in 1031 by GrigorMagistros. Its construction followsthe domed hall pattern. It is as-sumed that the church was used topreserve the manuscripts copied inthe monastery. The church was re-stored in 1947.

Aragatsotn province

The province of Aragatsotnadjoins Yerevan from the North-west. The name of the provinceprompts that it lies in the foot ofthe Aragats mountain. The ad-

ministrative centre of the prov-ince is the town of Ashtarak, 20kilometers away from Yerevan.The province of Aragatsotn has agreat number of historical andarchitectural monuments.

The churches of Ashtarak. Theprovincial centre has several histori-cal and architectural monuments.The most famous among them is thechurch of Karmravor (middle of the7th century) in the Northeastern sec-tor of the town. It is of the cross-domed type, fragments of muralshave been preserved in the interior.The shingled roof is well-preserved.The small dimensions of the church(6 by 7.5 meters) allow to consider ita familial chapel.

The old bridge in Ashtarak(beginning of the 18th century)

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The Tsiranavor church is anolder structure (a three naved ba-silica of the 5th century). Thechurch was built on cliffs overhang-ing the Kassakh river and resemblesa fortified bastion. In the beginningof the 19th century it was really usedas a fortification. The two otherchurches of the town, the church ofSpitakavor and the church of Ma-rine are dated by the 13th century.The first is poorly preserved.

The road from Ashtarak goesuphill to the village of Byurakan onthe Southeastern slope of Aragatsmountain. Byurakan is an old villagefirst mentioned in a source of the10th century. The Byurakan churchof Sourb Hovhannes is of the sameage. The Summer residence of theCatholicoi as well as the complex of

buildings of the Byurakan astro-physical observatory of the NationalAcademy of Science of Armenia arealso in Byurakan.

Amberd. By going from Byurakanup the Aragats mountain one may seethe impressive walls of a fortress onthe left hand side. This is the Amberdfortress and castle (10�13th centu-ries) and was the familial estate of the

Pahlavouni princes. It is one of thefew feudal castles of Armenian thathas been more or less preserved to ourdays. The location for it has been se-lected quite skillfully, the builderstook advantage of the mountainousterrain and put the fortress on a capesurrounded on three sides by ravines.Beyond the fortress walls built ofmassive basalt blocks there was athree storeyed castle (presently in ru-ins). Fragments of the water supplysystem of the castle, as well as thebaths and the secret passage to thecanyon are preserved. In 1206 a cross-domed type church was built on theterritory of the fortress. It was com-missioned by the famous ArmenianThe Karmravor church

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warlord Vahram Pahlavouni and isone of the most beautiful churches ofits type in Armenia.

Another highway from Ashtaraktakes us to Ejmiatsin. Five kilome-ters away from Ashtarak along thisroad is the village of Oshakan, oneof the oldest villages of Armenia(there are references to it since the4th century). There is a uniquemonument upon entry to Oshakan,an obelisk dedicated to the Arme-nian alphabet. The obelisk (archi-tect Jim Torossian) was built in 1962during the festivities of the 1,600thanniversary of the creation of Arme-nian script. The obelisk comprisestwo high stelae at an angle to eachother, resembling an open book. Theleft hand stele has Mesrobian letterscarved in stone, the right hand stelebears an inscription. The location ofthe obelisk, the only monument inthe world to an alphabet, is not ran-dom, the grave of Mesrob Mashtotsis in Oshakan.

The church of Sourb MesrobMashtots in Oshakan. The creatorof the Armenian alphabet MesrobMashtots died in 440 A.D. and wasburied in Oshakan. A small chapelwas built over his grave, replaced inthe second half of the 19th centuryby a single nave basilica. The relicsof St. Mesrob Mashtots and hischurch are sanctuaries of the Arme-nian Apostolic church and a site ofpilgrimage.

The province of Aragatsotn hasmonasteries that were once famouscultural centres of medieval Arme-nia. The monastery of Hovhanna-vank is in the village of Hovhanna-vank. The monastic complex in-cludes a single-nave church of the5th century, the oldest in the mon-astery and the principal church ofSourb Karapet of the cross-domedtype built in 1216. Its Southern walland the dome have been restored.The church is richly decorated withvegetative ornaments, it has a bas-relief with the depiction of Christ ona throne.

North of Ashtarak in the villageof Artashavan is the monastery ofSaghmosavank . The principalchurch of the monastic complex isSourb Sargis, built in 1215 by princeVache Vachoutian. There was ascriptorium built North of thechurch, where they not only pre-served but also copied manuscripts.

Among other architecturalmonuments of the province ofAragatsotn the following merit at-tention: the church of Sourb Grigorin the village of Arouch (7th cen-tury), the Tegher monastery (13thcentury) on the slope of the Aragatsmountain Northwest of Ashtarak,the architectural complex of the 7thcentury in Talin, the church ofSourb Hovhannes in Mastara (6thcentury, a fragment of a caravan-sary of the 14th century has also been

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preserved close to the village ofArouch.

Having completed the ac-quaintance with the monumentsin the provinces adjacent toYerevan, we shall proceed withour exposure to Armenia firstwith the Northern regions, to befollowed by the Southern ones.

Shirak province

The province of Shirak is onthe Northwest of the country.The administrative centre is thecity of Gyumri, the second insize in Armenia, 116 kilometersaway from Yerevan.

The oldest architectural monu-ment on the territory of the Shirakprovince is the single-nave churchin the village of Karnout (in ruins,4th century). The composition of thechurch is characteristic of the earli-est Armenian basilicas. It is assumedthat the church of Karnout was ini-tially a heathen temple.

Within the village limits of a mod-ern settlement of Anipemza is thesemi-ruined three-naved basilica,known as the Yererouyk Basilica (itwas built in the ancient village ofYererouyk between the 4th and 5thcenturies). According to a source ofthe 10th century this basilica wascalled the church of Sourb Karapet.The external walls of the church are

built of reddish tuff and have beenpreserved along the entire perimeteralmost up to the level of the cornice.The Yererouyk basilica is one of the

oldest churches of Armenia and it isa source of admiration even in thecondition it is in now.

In the village of Marmashen, 10kilometers Northwest of the pro-vincial centre, there is a well-pre-served monastery of Marmashen(10th�13th centuries). The princi-pal church of the monastery is thedomed hal l type Katoghikechurch, built by prince Vahram

The basilica of Yererouyk

The monastery of Marmashen


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Pahlavouni in 988�1029. Accord-ing to the opinion of specialists theKatoghike church is one of the beststructures of the Bagratid period.The monastic complex includesthree more churches, one of themcontains the tomb of Vahram Pah-lavouni. The monastery of Marma-shen was an outstanding religiousand cultural centre of medieval Ar-menia.

The monastery of Harij is in avillage by the same name that isknown to exist since the 2nd cen-tury B.C. The monastery is muchyounger, it is dated by the 7th cen-tury A.D., when the church ofSourb Grigor was built (of thedomed type). Later, in 1201, therulers of Armenia brothers Zakareand Ivane Zakarians built thechurch of Sourb Astvatsatsin thatbecame the principal structure ofthe complex. The monastery was ex-panded in the 19th century and wasused for some time as the residenceof Catholicoi.

Other monuments of the prov-ince include the semi-ruinedchurches of Sourb Astvatsatsin(5th century) and Sourb Gevorg(7th century) in the town of Artik,and 2 kilometers away from Artikthere is the monastery of Lmbata-vank (the church of Sourb Stepa-nos, 7th century). This church isone of the few where frescoes havesurvived.

Lori province

The province of Lori is in theNorth of the country. The admin-istrative centre is the city ofVanadzor, 145 kilometers awayfrom Yerevan.

The best known monuments ofthe Lori province are the church inOdzoun, as well as the monasteriesin Sanahin and Haghpat.

The church in Odzoun is adomed basilica. We lack reliable in-formation on the dating of thechurch, but the general composi-tion, decoration and other architec-tural features allow the specialiststo date it by the 6th century. Later

the church was reconstructed andhas reached our days in a relativelygood condition.

North of the church is the famousmemorial monument. A lofty po-dium supports three high pylonswith stelae in between. The stelaeare covered with ornate carvings:

The Odzoun church

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religious bas-reliefs, images of theapostles. The Odzoun monument isone of the best samples of medievalmemorial structures in Armenia.

The monastery of Sanahin wasfounded in the 10th century in a vil-lage by the same name, and is pres-ently within city limits of Alaverdi.The oldest in the monastery is thechurch of Sourb Astvatsatsin, datedby 951 A.D. The monastery ex-panded in the course of several sub-sequent centuries, new buildingswere added on. These include thechurch of Amenaprkich, the chapelof Sourb Grigor (10th century), theAcademy of Grigor Magistros (be-ginning of the 11th century), thescriptorium (middle of the 11th cen-tury) between the churches of SourbAstvatsatsin and Amenaprkich. Thescriptorium of the Sanahin monas-tery was the biggest medieval struc-ture of its type.

The monastery of Sanahin was amajor religious and cultural centreof medieval Armenia. Between the10th and 11th centuries its congre-gation counted several hundredmonks and in the academy that en-joyed wide popularity young menwere taught to become servants ofthe Armenian Apostolic Church.The faculty included famous theo-logians and scholars.

The monastery of Hakhpat. Thevillage of Hakhpat, 6 kilometersaway from the city of Alaverdi, is the

location of the biggest monasticcomplex of medieval Armenia. Themonastery was founded in 976 dur-ing the reign of king Ashot IIIBagratouni. The oldest structure of

the monastery is the church of SourbNshan (Holy Sign). It is of thedomed hall type and was consecratedin 991. Two side chapels were addedto it later, the big one (built in thebeginning of the 13th century) andthe second, known as �TheHamazasp House� (built in 1257). In1245 a stand alone three storeyedbelfry was built. The church hasreached our days without substantialalterations.

The monastic complex also in-cludes: a small domed church ofSourb Grigor (1005 A.D.), the chapelof Sourb Astvatsatsin (13th century),the scriptorium (13th century), thebig refectory (13th century) which isoutside of the monastery limits. A

The monastery of Haghpat


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number of splendid khachkars of the11th�13th centuries are standing onthe territory of the monastery, thebest known among them is the�Amenaprkich� (All-Savior) khach-kar with a sculpted crucifix.

Similar to the monastery ofSanahin, the monastery of Hakhpatused to be a major religious and cul-tural hub of medieval Armenia.Many manuscripts have been pre-served in the scriptorium of theHakhpat monastery, including somevery well known monuments of Ar-menian scripture.

Not far from the town of Stepa-navan on the Dzoraget river the ru-ins of the medieval fortress andtown of Lore (Loriberd) have beenpreserved. In the period of feudalfragmentation of Armenia betweenthe 10th and 13th centuries it wasthe capital of the Lori kingdom. In1238 the fortress was seized by the

Mongols an razed to the ground. Inthe course of subsequent centuriesthe town and the fortress were morethan once hit and plundered by for-eign invaders, eventually they wereabandoned by the inhabitants. Ar-chaeological excavations began onthe site of the fortress and the townsince 1960s.

Among other monuments of theLori province the following shouldbe noted: the Sourb Astvatsatsinchurch in the village of Kourtan(single-nave), the fortress and mo-nastery in Akhtala.

Tavoush province

The province of Tavoush is inthe Northeast of the country.The administrative centre is thecity of Ijevan, 137 kilometersaway from Yerevan.

Two famous monasteries of me-dieval Armenia are on the territoryof the province of Tavoush:Haghartsin and Goshavank.

The monastery of Haghartsin(10th�13th centuries) is 18 kilometersNorth of the town of Dilijan in thecanyon of Haghartsin river. Similarto most of Armenian monasteriesHaghartsin is built in a picturesquelocation, concealed in a forest. Themonastery was founded in the 10thcentury, when the Sourb Grigorchurch was built. This cross-domedchurch has side chapels in all four

The Sanahin bridge

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corners and stands out as a white spotagainst the background of the forest(it is built of white limestone). Theprincipal church of the monastery isthe Sourb Astvatsatsin church builtin 1281 by the domed hall pattern.Another church, Sourb Stepanos,was built in 1244. The main attrac-tion of the monastery is the refectory(1248) that has two halls. TheHaghartsin refectory is one of the twosurviving structures of it type in Ar-menia (the other refectory is in themonastery of Haghpat).

The Haghartsin monastery wasone of the leading cultural centres ofmedieval Armenia.

The monastery of Goshavank(Nor Getik) was founded on theright bank of the Getik river in 1188by the renowned Armenian scholar,jurist and fabulist Mkhitar Gosh.The monastery of Goshavank in-cludes the churches of SourbAstvatsatsin (1196), Sourb Grigor(1231), Sourb Grigor Loussavorich(1241), a scriptorium (1291) and aschool (13th century). Many beau-tiful khachkars have been preservedin Goshavank. Historical sourcesmention the existence of a universityand a seminary in this monasterywhere many manuscripts were cre-ated and preserved.

The monastery of Haghartsin


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There is another monastery inthe Tavoush province, the monasteryof Kirants (13th century) in a villageby the same name. It comprises threechurches, side halls, a refectory, resi-dential and auxiliary structures.

Attractions of Dilijan. One of thebetter known resorts of the Republicof Armenia Dilijan (106 kilometersfrom Yerevan) is in the territory of theTavoush province. Dilijan is an al-

pine spa: its clear forest air (pine), thewarm sun and the �Dilijan� mineralwater possess therapeutic powers.Several sanatoriums (�Alpine Arme-nia�, �Dilijan� etc.), lodges and pen-sions operate in Dilijan. The retreatsof composers and cinematographersare also in Dilijan. A historical dis-trict of the 19th century has been re-stored in the downtown. The townitself is a part of the Dilijan PublicReserve, established in 1958 and cov-ering 24 thousand hectares of mostlyforests.

There are many monuments inthe environs of Dilijan: ruins ofmedieval fortresses and monasteries,caravanserays, khachkars etc. Threekilometers North of Dilijan on a for-ested slope is the monastery ofJoukhtak Vank (12th�13th centu-ries) comprising two churches(hence the name of the monasterysince �joukht� means �a pair�). Thechurch of Sourb Astvatsatsin wasbuilt in 1201 (domed hall). The sec-ond church of Sourb Grigor is of thesame type (the drum is not pre-served). It is maintained that thechurch of Sourb Grigor was builtearlier than the church of SourbAstvatsatsin. Both churches arebuilt of light yellow felsite.

Many historical and architec-tural monuments of the Northernregions of the Republic of Arme-nia have suffered damage fromthe Spitak earthquake of 1988and are in need of restoration.

Gegharkounik province

The province of Gegharkou-nik is in the East of the country,including the Sevan basin. Theadministrative centre is the cityof Gavar, 98 kilometers awayfrom Yerevan.

The Gegharkounik provincehas many historical and architec-tural monuments pertaining todifferent periods.

A panoramic view of Dilijan

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Ljashen. We shall begin our ex-posure to the historical and architec-tural monuments of the provincewith a monument of the Urartianperiod. The remains of a cyclopeanfortress (3rd�1st millennia B.C.)have been preserved next to the vil-lage of Ljashen on the shore of lakeSevan. The walls of the fortress arebuilt of crude basalt rocks 3 to 4meters thick.

In the middle of the 1950s thewater of lake Sevan was depleted forthe needs of the Sevan-Hrazdan cas-cade hydropower plants, baring thesite of an ancient settlement and itsburial grounds. Archaeological exca-vations of the site revealed a cunei-form inscription of the Urartianking Argishti, recounting his con-quests of the cities of Ishtiuni andKiekhuni. There are sufficientgrounds to believe that the city ofKiekhuni was where contemporaryLjashen is. Archaeological excava-tions have revealed a plethora ofmaterial: wooden carriages, ceram-ics, various ornaments and decora-tions etc. This material allows tostate that the ancient culture of Ar-menia contained a Ljashen age. Re-mains of Urartian fortresses are alsofound in the environs of the provin-cial centre, the city of Gavar, in thevillage of Lanjaghbyur and otherlocations.

The monastery of Sevan (9th cen-tury). The Sevan monastery is on the

present-day Sevan peninsula (priorto depletion of the lake it was an is-land). The congregation settled onthe island at the end of the 8th cen-tury and undertook the constructionof a monastery in the last quarter ofthe century that followed. Threechurches were built, as well as thecells of the monks and auxiliarystructures. Only two of thesechurches have survived: the churchof Sourb Arakelots (Saint Apostles)and the church of Sourb Astvatsa-tsin. Both were built in 874 follow-ing the cross-shaped pattern. Thechurches are sufficiently well pre-served. Two carved wooden doorsfrom the Sevan monastery (of the12th and 16th centuries), exemplify-ing the advanced art of woodwork,are presently preserved at the StateHistorical Museum of Armenia.

The Sevan island is relevant toan important episode of the libera-tion struggle of the Armenianpeople against Arab domination.Prince Ashot Bagratouni (the fu-ture king Ashot Yerkat) was on theSevan island with his regiment in925. He landed on the shore andwon a decisive victory that resultedin the restoration of Armenian in-dependence.

Noratous. Monuments of differ-ent periods have been preserved inthe village of Noratous 5 kilometersSoutheast of the provincial centre.The archaeologists have found


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weapons, ceramics and ornaments inthe burial ground pertaining to theBronze Age.

The church of Sourb Astvatsatsinrises in the centre of the village. Itwas built at the end of the 9th cen-tury and is of the domed hall type.In the 14th century the church wasdestroyed by the Persians but wasrebuilt in the 15th century. The roofis fragmented and the drum is dam-aged.

A small church of Sourb Grigor(10th century) is on the Southeast-ern end of the village. It is of thedomed hall type.

The big cemetery of Noratous iswidely known thanks to its great num-ber of khachkars mostly of the 13th to17th centuries. Many of these khach-kars are set on special foundations.

The monastery of Sevan

Noratous. Khachkars

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Among other monuments of theGegharkounik province the followingshould be noted: the monastery ofAyrivank (9th�12th centuries) in thevillage by the same name on the shoreof Sevan, the churches of SourbHovannes (9th century), SourbKarapet (10th century) and SourbAstvatsatsin (middle of the 19th cen-tury) in the city of Gavar etc.

Vayots Dzor province

The province of Vayots Dzoris in the South of the country.The administrative centre is thecity of Yeghegnadzor, 122 kilo-meters away from Yerevan.

The monastery of Noravank. Thefollowing statement is not in theleast exaggerated: the monastery ofNoravank is one of the most splen-did monuments of medieval Arme-nia. Noravank is built in an inacces-sible location amongst stunning na-ture five kilometers away from thevillage of Amaghou. In the begin-ning of 1980s an adequate road wasbuilt leading to Noravank along atributary of the Arpa river. Themonastery is overhanging the gorgeof the river. Thanks to the new roadthe monastery is no longer inacces-sible and the guests of Armenia,once they are in Vayots Dzor, pay amandatory visit to the monastery.

Between the 12th and 14th centu-ries the Noravank monastery was the

cathedral of the bishops of Syunik.The oldest structure of the monas-tery, the church of Sourb Karapet(9th�10th centuries) has not sur-vived. The principal church of themonastery, also called Sourb Karapet,was built in 1221�1227. The churchhad an atrium (1261), which was re-built by the famous architect and

sculptor Momik following the earth-quake of 1321. The atrium is deco-rated with bas-reliefs on religiousthemes: Mother of God with the in-fant, Father God and others. Momikalso built the two-storeyed church/sepulcher Sourb Astvatsatsin, stun-ning in its perfection and richness ofdecoration. A number of marvellouskhachkars are preserved on the terri-tory of the monastery, one of whichis the gravestone of Momik the archi-tect himself.

Gladzor. Not far away fromNoravank is one of the biggest

Noravank


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educational centres of medieval Ar-menia, the Gladzor university. Itspremises have not survived. Thereis a theory according to which theuniversity had occupied the territory

of the monastery of Tanadeh Vank(referred to in sources since the 7thcentury, the principal structuresbuilt in the 13th century), which is7 kilometers Southeast of the villageof Vernashen. The university wasfounded in 1282 and operatedthrough 1338, having won wide ac-claim within the fifty or so years.Renowned theologians and scholarsof the time taught and worked in it,they have prepared the total of over350 vardapets. Manuscripts werewritten in the university, the illumi-nators that worked there establishedthe Gladzor school of Armenianbook miniature.

The church of Sourb Astvatsatsinin Areni. The village of Areni is on

the Arpa river. On the Eastern end ofthe village on a hilltop is the churchof Sourb Astvatsatsin, built in 1231by Momik the architect. The churchis of the central dome type, it has bas-reliefs of the Mother of God with theinfant and the symbols of the Evan-gelists, all carved by Momik. Thedrum of the church has not survived.

Perfect architectural forms andthe propitious location, as well as theartful decoration have made thechurch of Sourb Astvatsatsin inAreni one of the best architecturalmonuments of medieval Armenianarchitecture.

Among other monuments of theGegharkounik province the monas-tery of Sourb Sion (referred to sincethe 8th century) in the village ofHerher should be noted. The mon-astery comprises two churches:Sourb Sion and Sourb Astvatsatsin(end of the 13th century) and a smallchapel. The remains of a small for-tress called �Kapooyt� have survivedclose to the village.

Siunik province

The province of Siunik ad-heres to the Southern border ofthe country. The administrativecentre of the province is the cityof Kapan, 316 kilometers awayfrom Yerevan.

The monastery of Tatev. Themost prominent historical and

A landscape in Vayots Dzor

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architectural monument of theSiunik province is the monastery ofTatev in the village by the same name.The monastery was founded in the9th century on the site of an ancientshrine. The oldest structure of themonastery is the church of SourbPoghos-Petros (895�906) of thedomed basilica type. The interior ofthe church had frescoes that have notsurvived. South of this church avaulted church was built in 1285called the church of Sourb Grigor.

The visitors to the monasteryshall pay attention to an interestingmonument: the rocking stele �Gava-zan� (�Staff �) in the courtyard of themonastery. The height of the stele is8 meters, it is octagonal, made ofsmall stone bricks and crowned witha traceried cross.

The University of Tatev operatedin the monastery between 1390 and1453, picking up the traditions of theuniversity of Gladzor. Famous schol-ars and theologians worked in theuniversity. The University of Tatevwas a major educational centre inmedieval Armenia.

In the 17th�18th centuries defen-sive structures were added to themonastery, it was surrounded withfortified walls (presently mostly ru-ined), underground passages weredug and auxiliary buildings added.

The monastery of Tatev sufferedsubstantial damage from the earth-quake of 1931, but has been mostlyrebuilt since.

Khndzoresk. The province ofSuinik has a very remarkable monu-ment 8 kilometers away from Goris� the cave village of Khndzoresk.The presently abandoned village ison the left and right faces of a hillcrisscrossed with ravines. Since theslopes have no flat spaces fit forbuilding, the people have dug ter-races in the rock in such a manner,that the roof of the lower houseserved as the courtyard floor for theone above it and so forth. Apart from

that the inhabitants of Khndzoreskput to good use the many cavesalong the slopes. These features ofconstruction and the terrain con-tributed to strengthen the impreg-nability of the settlement. The in-habitants of Khndzoresk took activepart in the national liberationstruggle of the 18th century underthe leadership of David Bek. Thetomb of Mkhitar Sparapet, a confed-erate of David Bek, is in Khndzoresk.

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Presently the Old Khndzoresk pos-sesses the status of a historical land-mark under public protection.

The tomb in Aghitu. The pictureof this original monument may be en-countered in almost all studies of the

history of Armenian architecture. Itwas built in the village of Aghitu(called Aghuti prior to 1995) next tothe town of Sissian. The monumentis quite high (10 meters), it has twopylons rising from a rectangular po-dium that covers two crypts. The py-lons and a column between them arejoined together by an arch. Threesmaller arches complete the compo-sition. The monument is richly orna-mented. By its significance and archi-tectural design the monument in

Aghitu adheres to the monument inOdzoun (5th�6th centuries).

The church of Sisavan. In theNorthern end of the town of Sissianis the church of Sisavan (SourbGrigor). The church was built in the

last quarter of the 7th century and isof the cross-domed type. The mainspecific feature of the church is theshape of the drum. It has 12 faces andis decorated with sculpted figures ofthe three persons that commissionedthe church: the prince, the spiritualleader and the parish priest. TheSisavan church is the oldest amongthe surviving churches of Siunik.

The monasteries of Yeritsavank(5th�11th centuries, next to the vil-lage of Artsvanik), Vorotnavank

The monastery of Tatev

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(9th�12th centuries, next to the vil-lage of Vaghatin) and Vahanavank(10th�11th centuries, next to the vil-

lage of Shkharjik) and other monu-ments are also in the territory of theprovince of Siunik.

We have described above only some of the prominent historical andarchitectural monuments of Armenia. Most of them have remained out-side of the territory of our present day Republic, in Western Armenia oc-cupied by Turkey. It is important not only to know these monuments butalso to do everything to ensure their preservation for the enjoyment of thegenerations to come.


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The historical fate of the Ar-menian people is such that sincethe early Middle Ages Armenianshad to leave their homeland insearch for adequate livelihood inalien lands. The loss of nationalstatehood, the occupation of Ar-menia by foreign conquerors andthe oppression reigning in thecountry, the ethnic and religiouspersecution � these are all themain reasons making the Arme-nian quit the motherland and re-settle in other countries. The ra-dius of dispersion of Armenians,gradually increasing, covered notonly neighbouring Georgia andByzantium, but also farther coun-tries: Bulgaria, Crimea, Poland,Hungary, The Kiev Russia,Moldova, the Ukraine and thenIndia and certain countries of theNear East. After the fall of theCilician Armenian kingdom (endof the 14th century) a substantialnumber of Armenians settled inCyprus and then Italy, France andother countries. At the turn of the18th century there were Arme-nian migratory settlements inmany countries of Asia and Eu-rope.

Armenians in alien lands werestaunch: they maintained their

identity, religion, contributed tothe development of the nationalculture. The public and politicalcircles of the Armenian coloniesstrived to preserve their linkswith the motherland, to help withthe national-liberation struggle ofthe native people.

The contemporary ArmenianDiaspora (�Spyurk�) was formedin the first decades of the 20thcentury when, because of theGenocide of Armenians perpe-trated by the Turkish authoritiesin Western Armenia, Cilicia andArmenian-populated regions ofTurkey, approximately 800 thou-sand Armenians were dispersedover many countries of the world,augmenting the already existingcommunities and establishingnew ones. The numbers of Arme-nians rose in Russia, Greece, Bul-garia, Romania, Egypt, Lebanon,Syria, France, the USA, a num-ber of Latin American countries.

The migration of Armeniansover the world continues to ourdays. Because of political up-heavals of the second half of the20th century in the Near East-ern countries: the nationalistforces taking over in Egypt, theprolonged war in Lebanon, the

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Islamic revolution in Iran, theIran-Iraq war, the numbers ofArmenians in these countriesdwindled, since many have emi-grated to the USA, Canada, GreatBritain, Germany, Sweden, Aus-tralia, New Zealand. Followingthe massacre of the Armenianpopulation in Azerbaijan in theend of the 1980s, beginning of the1990s the flow of refugees gushednot only into Armenia, but intoRussia, Central Asia, the USA,certain countries of Europe. Inthe beginning of the 1990s theemigration of Armenians also be-gan out of Armenia, a countrythat was struck by the disastrousearthquake of 1988, landlocked bythe blockade and sufferingthrough an economic crisis.

The Armenians of the Diasporaadjusted to the new conditions of liferelatively quickly, they establishedthemselves in the economic, socialand cultural structures of host coun-tries, created the conditions neces-sary for the preservation of theiridentity. It is said that wherever atleast three Armenians settle, theybuild a church, open a school andbegin considering the publication ofa daily paper. Let us leave this ap-parent exaggeration aside, but thetruth of the matter is that the activ-ity of the Armenian Apostolic

church, the development of the na-tional school, the operation of vari-ous ethnic organizations and thepublication of national newspapersare truly the principal factors ensur-ing the ongoing identity of Arme-nians.

The onset of the Karabaghmovement and the proclamationof independence of Armenia pro-vided powerful incentives for theawakening of Armenians in theDiaspora. History has now pre-sented a unique window of op-portunity for attaining the unityof the entire Armenian nationthrough the consolidation of itsthree constituent entities: theRepublic of Armenia, the Repub-lic of Nagorno-Karabagh and theSpiurk.

The question on the number ofArmenians in the modern world de-fies an exact answer. The absence ofreliable information on the numbersof Armenians in individual coun-tries makes us revert to approximateestimations mostly available in theprinted media. These estimationsallow us to believe that the totalnumber of Armenians in the mod-ern world is between 8 and 8.5millions.The most populous Arme-nian communities are in Russia (upto 1.8 mln), the USA (up to 1 mln),Georgia (430 thousand), France (400thousand), Iran (180 thousand),

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Syria (between 120 and 130 thou-sand), Lebanon (120 thousand),Canada (65 thousand), Argentina(80 thousand) and other countries.

There is a multitude of social, po-litical, benevolent, cultural, sportsand compatriotic organizations inoperation in the Armenian Diaspora.The organizations of the Armenianpolitical parties Ramkavar-Azatakan,Social-Democratic Hnchakian andthe Armenian Revolutionary Federa-tion Dashnaktsoutyun are active insome of the foreign Armenian com-munities. Almost all communitieshave chapters of the Armenian Gen-eral Benevolent Union (founded in1906), the most authoritative organi-zation of the Spiurk. It maintainsschools, university chairs of Arme-nian studies, academic centres inmany communities of the ArmenianDiaspora. The leading among cul-tural associations are the Nationalcultural union (�Hamazgain�) andthe Tekeyan cultural association. Themany compatriotic societies continueto do significant work, the earliestamong these emerged by the turn ofthe last century. The divisions of thePan-Armenian �Hayastan� Fund op-erate in many communities of the

Armenian Diaspora. It is a fundrai-sing organization trying to attract for-eign Armenians to the implementa-tion of economic and charity pro-grammes of the Fund in Armenia aswell as in Artsakh.

With the sovereign Republicof Armenia coming to existencethe Fatherland/Spiurk relationshave embarked on a qualitativelynew stage. The re-establishmentof an independent state was asource of satisfaction for all lay-ers of the Armenian Spiurk, theyunderstood that new opportuni-ties are opening up for attainingthe unity of the entire nation, re-solving national issues. The cer-tain inevitable discrepancy in at-titudes and the assessment ofevents transpiring in Armeniadoes not prevent the Diasporacircles from coming up in uni-son in what matters most: the es-tablishment of sovereign Arme-nia is viewed as the axial eventof the modern history of the na-tion, the rightful conclusion ofthe national liberation struggle.

Our account of Armenia is over. Of course no narrative can substitutepersonal exposure to Armenia, an eternally young and at the same timeancient country that cherishes its centuries-old traditions and looks aheadwith ambition.

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Entry and exit

The entry into the Republic ofArmenia is exercised on the basis ofan entry visa issued by relevant bo-dies of the Ministry of foreign affairsof the Republic of Armenia and, onborder checkpoints (and in the air-ports) by the relevant bodies of theMinistry of interior of the Republicof Armenia or, alternatively, pursu-ant to a procedure defined by inter-national agreements of the Repub-lic of Armenia.

In order to receive an entry visato the Republic of Armenia it is nec-essary to fill out a questionnaire of astipulated format and submit therequired documents.

The following types of entry vi-sas may be issued:

a) transit � for a period of up tothree days

b) tourist � for a period of up totwenty one days

c) long-term � for a period of upto three months

d) diplomatic � for the period ofservice (posting).

The diplomatic and tourist vi-sas are single entry, while the tran-sit and long-term visas are mul-tiple entry permits. The expirydate of an entry visa may be ex-tended on the territory of the Re-public of Armenia by the relevantbodies of the Ministry of interior(MI) of the Republic of Armeniaor, outside of Armenia, by the rel-evant bodies of the Ministry of for-eign affairs (MFA) of the Repub-lic of Armenia not more than twice

MISCELLANEOUS DATA ANDUSEFUL TIDBITS

THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF FOREIGNNATIONALS IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA,

THE PROCEDURE FOR ENTRY AND EXIT,RESIDENCE PERMITS

Pursuant to the Law of the Republic of Armenia of 17/06/1994�On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Republic of Armenia�foreign nationals in the Republic of Armenia enjoy the rights andfreedoms stipulated by the rules of international law and the legisla-tion of the Republic of Armenia. They must comply with the laws ofthe Republic of Armenia, respect the customs and national tradi-tions of its people.

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for the duration of one third of theinitial period each time.

The issuance of an entry visa maybe denied, of which the applicantshall be notified.

Upon entering the Republic ofArmenia a foreign national shouldpresent on a border guard checkpointthe entry visa, an internationally rec-ognized travel document (passport),fill in a customs declaration and com-ply with the customs requirements.

The exit of a foreign nationalfrom the Republic of Armenia maybe prevented in the following cases:

a) until the completion of inquestif a criminal case that has been in-stigated against him/her

b) until the sentence is served orwaived if he/she is convicted of anoffence

c) until the execution of the courtverdict or ruling or a waiver thereofif a court verdict or ruling existswith respect to him/her.

The registration of a foreign na-tional by the latter�s domicile is car-ried out by the bodies of the MI onthe basis of documents affirminghis/her right of residence in the Re-public of Armenia as well as theright to take up residential space.

The registration of a foreign na-tional residing in a hotel, retreat,spa, sanatorium or a tourist or simi-lar lodge shall be carried out by re-spective institutions.

The Republic of Armenia hasconcluded mutual no-visa entry re-

gime agreements with the CIS coun-tries (with no invitations required),Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Cuba(invitations required: official � frominstitutions and private � processedby the MFA of the Republic of Ar-menia).

Rights and obligations offoreign nationals

A foreign national in the Repub-lic of Armenia is entitled to:

� freedom of speech, conscienceand profession

� preserve his/her national lan-guage, culture and customs

� the same protection of lawagainst illicit violation of privacyand intrusion into family life, samerecourse to a court of law against at-tempts at the inviolability of a per-son and a home, privacy of corre-spondence, honor and dignity, per-sonal freedom and property as anArmenian national

� to possess property, to work anengage in entrepreneurial operationsaccording to a procedure stipulatedby the legislation of the Republic ofArmenia.

A foreign national in the Repub-lic of Armenia may consummate ordissolve a marriage in a procedurestipulated by the legislation of theRepublic of Armenia and is entitledto the same rights and subject to thesame obligations in matrimony as anArmenian national.

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A foreign national in the Repub-lic of Armenia:

� pays taxes, duties and othermandatory payments

� is denied suffrage, may not be amember to any social political orga-nization of the Republic of Armenia,may not be elected or appointed toposts or engage in activities forwhich the legislation of the Repub-lic of Armenia requires the posses-sion of Armenian nationality

� is not subject to conscription toserve in the armed forces of the Re-public of Armenia

� in the exercise of his/her rightsenjoys all guarantees stipulated forthe exercise of the rights of the na-tionals of the Republic of Armenia.

The exercise of their rights andfreedoms by foreign nationalsshould not harm the rights and free-doms of the nationals of the Repub-lic of Armenia, other persons, thepublic order, general well-being, na-tional security of the Republic ofArmenia.

A foreign national in the Repub-lic of Armenia is responsible againstthe law in the same manner as a na-tional of the Republic of Armeniawith the exception of cases stipu-lated in the international agreementsand the legislation of the Republicof Armenia.

In the event of violation of thestipulated order of sojourn at theRepublic of Armenia, a stay without

documents affirming the right ofresidence or with void documents,the violation of the stipulated pro-cedure for registration, failure to exitthe Republic of Armenia upon theexpiry of a residence permit or anentry visa, failure to comply withcustoms regulations a foreign na-tional shall bear the responsibilitydefined by the legislation of the Re-public of Armenia.

A foreign national possessing aresidence permit in the Republicof Armenia is entitled, in the samemanner as a national of the Repub-lic of Armenia, to inherit, to be-queath or give his/her property, toavail himself/herself of insuranceand other services, to be a memberto charity, cultural, union, sportsand other non-governmental organi-zations, unless such membership iscontrary to the charters of organiza-tions in question, without the rightto hold office in their management,may be a member to internationalorganizations operating in the Re-public of Armenia.

The residence permit entitles aforeign national to enter and exit theRepublic of Armenia.

A foreign national possessing atemporary, common or special resi-dence permit is entitled to invite his/her immediate relatives to the Re-public of Armenia.

The right of a foreign nationalpossessing a special residence permit

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to invite other persons to the Repub-lic of Armenia shall be regulated byinternational agreement.

Residence permits, theprocedure of receipt thereof in

the Republic of Armenia

There are four types of residencepermits: temporary, common, spe-cial and particular.

1. The temporary residencepermit is granted to foreign nation-als that enter the Republic of Arme-nia on a contractual basis or withprivate motivation, to students en-rolled in public and religious edu-cational institutions of the Repub-lic of Armenia, to persons possess-ing a refugee status, as well as to for-eign journalists, researchers and per-sons invited to perform social or re-ligious service.

Temporary residence permits areissued for a period of up to one year,to be renewed each time for a periodnot to exceed one year.

Temporary residence permits areprocessed by the MI of the Republicof Armenia pursuant to a proceduredefined by the government of theRepublic of Armenia.

A foreign national having a tem-porary residence permit is reservedthe right to work. The number ofentries and exits is unlimited. Uponeach exit the foreign national paysthe fee against an entry permit on aborder checkpoint of the Republic

of Armenia. The entry permit fee iswaived for foreign students.

A foreign national having a tem-porary residence permit is reservedthe right once during his/her stay toimport a vehicle for personal use. Aforeign national having a temporaryresidence permit may not default onor alter the purpose of his/her so-journ without the permission of theMI of the Republic of Armenia.

2. The common residence per-mit may be granted to foreign na-tionals upon their application. Thefollowing foreign nationals enjoypriority in acquiring it:

a) those who have legitimatelyresided in the Republic of Armeniafor more than three years

b) former nationals of the Repub-lic of Armenia or immediate rela-tives (spouse, child, father, mother,sister, brother) of a national of theRepublic of Armenia

c) graduates of public or licensedprivate higher educational institu-tions of the Republic of Armenia

d) those possessing a refugeestatus.

A common residence permit isgranted for a period of up to threeyears, which may be extended.

A common residence permit isprocessed by the MI of the Republicof Armenia pursuant to a proceduredefined by the government of theRepublic of Armenia.

A foreign national having a tem-porary residence permit is reserved

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the right to work, to receive socialinsurance, engage in entrepreneurialoperations, avail himself/herself of in-surance services. He/she works oncontract. His/her term of work ex-pires along with the expiry of the pe-riod of sojourn. Within three monthsfollowing the receipt of a commonresidence permit its holder may im-port into the Republic of Armeniafree of duty personal articles, one ve-hicle for personal use, householditems. In the event of importing otherproperty customs duty shall be lev-ied in a stipulated manner. A holderof a common residence permit mustundergo annual re-registration, maynot be absent from the Republic ofArmenia for more than six monthswithin every year without a writtenpermission from the MI of the Re-public of Armenia, provided suchabsence does not exceed the periodof one continual year.

A foreign national who has re-sided in the Republic of Armenia formore than three years with a com-mon residence permit may apply toreceive citizenship of the Republicof Armenia.

3. The special residence permitis granted to foreign nationals ofArmenian origin. It may be alsogranted to other foreign nationalsengaging in economic or culturalactivity in the Republic of Armenia.

The special residence permit isgranted for a period of ten years. Itmay be granted more than once.

Foreign nationals soliciting a spe-cial residence permit shall submit tothe diplomatic or consular missionsof the Republic of Armenia abroadand, in Armenia, to the MI of theRepublic of Armenia, an applicationto the President of the Republic ofArmenia, they fill out a question-naire of a stipulated format and sub-mit the required documents.

The recipient of a special resi-dence permit is issued a special pass-port of the Republic of Armenia. Afee is charged against such a pass-port in the amount determined bythe government of the Republic ofArmenia.

A foreign national may reapplyfor a special residence permit uponthe expiry of a period of one yearfrom the date of rejection of his/herpreceding application.

A person with a special residencepermit in the Republic of Armeniais reserved the right to work, engagein entrepreneurial operations ac-cording to a procedure stipulatedby the legislation of the Republic ofArmenia for holders of commonresidence permits. He/she receivesa waiver of the entry visa fee, mustundergo annual re-registration withthe diplomatic or consular missionsof the Republic of Armenia abroadand, on the territory of the Repub-lic of Armenia, with the respectivebody of the MI of the Republic ofArmenia.


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4. The particular residencepermit is granted to foreign na-tional that are employees of diplo-matic or consular missions of for-eign states in the Republic of Ar-menia and to their family membersfor the period of their posting, aswell as to foreign nationals that areemployees of international organi-zations.

The rights and obligations of for-eign nationals holding particular

residence permits are defined by theinternational agreements of the Re-public of Armenia, the laws of theRepublic of Armenia and the reso-lutions of the government of theRepublic of Armenia.

The foreign national holding aparticular residence permit is en-titled to personal immunity pursu-ant to the international agreementsand the legislation of the Republicof Armenia.

BUSINESS INFORMATION

During the almost 70 yearspreceding the establishment ofindependence in 1991, the econo-my of the Armenian Soviet So-cialist Republic was integratedwith the market of the USSR andwas based on developed industry.Following 1991 in view of a num-ber of reasons (the shrinking oftraditional markets because ofthe collapse of the USSR, the in-troduction of market economyetc.) the economy of the countryunderwent a sharp decline. Try-ing to stabilize the situation inthe economy and ensure its reha-bilitation and further growth, thegovernment of the young repub-lic developed a program of mac-

roeconomic stabilization andstructural transformations, thatreceived the endorsement of for-eign donors.

Structural transformations inthe banking and finance sectorswere asked for to ensure the tran-sition to market economy. InApril, 1993, the Parliament adop-ted the laws �On the CentralBank of the Republic of Arme-nia� and �On banks and bankingoperations�, which began to regu-late the operation of the CentralBank and commercial banks andset the foundations for an inde-pendent banking system.

With the breakdown of the fi-nancial markets of the former

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USSR the need for independentfinancial and loan policies in-creased. An important step inthis direction was taken in 1993with the introduction of the na-tional currency: the dram.

The exchange rate of the dramto the US dollar was initially setat 14.3. In March, 1994, it hadclimbed to 230 drams and was400 drams by the end of the year.The exchange rate of the dramhas remained relatively stablethereafter, fluctuating within therange of 400 to 410 drams for aUS dollar in 1995, 410�450 dramsin 1996, 450�500 drams in 1997,500 drams in 1998 (as of May)and 540 drams in July 1999.

The system of taxation isregulated pursuant to the law�On taxes and duties in the Re-public of Armenia�. The follow-ing taxes and duties apply: theprofit (corporation) tax, leviedon the income of legal persons;the income tax, levied on the theincome of natural persons; theexcise tax, levied on the sale ofcertain goods; the value addedtax, levied on the sale turnoverof goods and services; the socialtax, levied on wages and incomedeemed to be the same as wages;the land tax, levied on propri-

etors of land; the profession tax,levied on individuals who engagein certain professions; the prop-erty tax, levied on certain typesof property; the environmentaltax, levied against the use of natu-ral resources and pollution of theenvironment. There are state du-ties payable against legal andother services, customs duties onexporting and importing goods,as well as other duties and pay-ments.

Enterprises with foreign in-vestment participation and localenterprises are subject to taxationby the same schedule, with theexception of the profit tax, onwhich foreign investors aregranted preferences.

The profit tax is levied on theprofit of enterprises that possess thestatus of a legal person. The taxschedule is set at 12, 18, 25 and 30percent of the profit depending onthe annual amount of taxable profit(TP) to be calculated in the follow-ing manner: TP = gross income lessthe value added tax (VAT), less theexcise tax, less expenses and othertaxes.

Newly created enterprises includ-ing foreign ones are freed from thepayment of the profit tax within thetwo years immediately succeedingtheir state registration. The profit


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tax on enterprises with foreign in-vestment is levied at reduced ratesfrom the beginning of the thirdthrough the tenth year followingtheir registration.

In the event of the liquidation ofthe enterprise prior to the expiry ofthe three year period, the amount ofthe profit tax shall be levied in fullfor that period. In the event of theliquidation of the enterprise prior tothe expiry of the fifth year, theamount of the profit tax shall beback levied in full for the entire pe-riod of its operation.

The income tax is levied on theincome of natural persons. The ob-ject of taxation is income receivedfrom the execution of labour andcivil-legal contracts, entrepreneurialoperations, lease of property, shareparticipation, securities, deposits,author�s royalties, receipt of giftsand assistance etc.

The monthly tax schedule is setat 15, 25 and 30 percent dependingon the amount of income. A deduc-tion is allowed from the tax payablein Armenia in the amount of the taxpaid in another country. Foreign na-tionals permanently residing in Ar-menia (for over 183 days within acalendar year) are subject to taxationby the same schedule as Armeniannationals.

The excise tax is an indirect taxincluded in the price of goods andservices. it is payed by enterprises,

institutions, organizations and indi-viduals that produce and sell liquor,tobacco, jewellery, costume jewellery,furs, fur and leather garments, tires,crystal and china, hand-woven car-pets. The tax is also levied on thoseimporting these goods into the Re-public of Armenia from countriesthat are not members of the formerUSSR.

The value added tax (VAT).Added value is the balance betweenthe value of sold goods, performedwork and rendered services and thevalue of material resources, fuel,work and services, fixed assets andintangibles that is recorded as pro-duction and turnover cost. The VATrate is 20 percent. The VAT shall bewaived for the following: financialmediation; sale of pharmaceuticals,orthopaedic and prosthetic devices;construction work performed byforeign and international NGOs orreligious organizations or on the ex-pense of the communities of the Ar-menian Diaspora; operations per-taining to the turnover of foreigncurrency, cash, banknotes, securi-ties (with the exception of brokerand other mediation securities);sale of agricultural produce; opera-tions of insurance and reinsuranceas well as those pertaining to depos-its of funds, settlement, current andother accounts; school textbooks,copy-books and sale thereof; opera-tions pertaining to the receipt and

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issuance of patents, copyright and li-censes; publicly funded R&D andrelated academic work as well as anumber of other types of goods, ser-vices and work.

Along with the stabilization ofthe country�s economy condi-tions were established by the endof 1994 for conducting liberalforeign trade policy. The restric-tions imposed on it before werelifted, export duties were re-called and import tariffs werelowered.

The Harmonised System ofTariff Classification is in effect inArmenia. Customs tariffs arecharged ad valorem applied toCIF. The tariffs are either 0 or10%. The 10% tariff rate is pre-dominantly applied to consumergoods and luxury items.

License requirements, importquotas and bans are waived formost of the imports. With thepurpose of protecting the security,health and the environment re-strictions exist on licensing theimportation of weapons and com-ponents for the production there-of, explosives and radioactive sub-stances, poisons, narcotics, por-nographic materials, strong hal-lucinogenic and narcotic sub-stances and devices. A permission

of the Ministry of health is re-quired for the importation ofpharmaceuticals, and a permis-sion of the Ministry of agricultureis required for the importation ofagricultural chemicals.

As a member of the WorldCustoms Organization Armeniauses the customs valuation meth-odology based on the provisionsof the GATT agreement of 1994.

Customs payments againstimports and exports are chargedat the rate of one thousand AMDper metric ton of freight. Thepayments are waived for tempo-rary imports, supplies in theframework of governmentalloans, clearing operations pursu-ant to international agreements,importation of building materi-als for construction pursuant tobilateral agreements wit the CIScountries, goods purchased at theexpense of the state budget, andhumanitarian assistance.

Exportation out of the territoryof the Republic of Armenia byindividuals of goods and otheritems is free from customs duties.

Individuals may import into thecustoms territory of the Republic ofArmenia duty free personal articles,as well as goods and other items ofthe total cost equivalent to 500 US


162

dollars, with the exception of alco-holic beverages, limited by 2 litres,and tobacco, limited by 50 packs.The amount of individually im-ported goods and items in excess ofthe value or quantity stated aboveshall be taxed by customs duty pur-suant to the norms defined by law.

Individuals arriving in the Re-public of Armenia for permanentresidence may import their propertyduty free.

Nationals of the Republic of Ar-menia may import into the Repub-lic of Armenia duty free propertyinherited abroad. No supportingdocuments are required for indi-vidually taking out of the countrythe amount up to 10 thousand USdollars. The importation of cur-rency is unlimited.

The Parliament of the Repub-lic of Armenia has adopted anumber of laws that regulate thedevelopment of the private sec-tor and establishing a marketoriented business environment.

The Civil Code of RA (adep-ted by the National Assembly onMay 5, 1998, effective as of June17, 1998) outlines the forms ofbusiness organisation and regu-lates entrepreneurial operationson the territory of the country.

The privatisation and dena-tionalization of state-owned en-

terprises and unfinished con-struction sites is in process since1991. The respective law allowsthe foreigners the right to partici-pate in the process of privatisa-tion. As of January, 1988, 65% ofmedium and large enterprises and90% of small facilities have beenprivatised in Armenia.

In 1991, in the result of theprivatisation of land the preced-ing system of collective and pub-lic farms was liquidated. By theend of 1994 69% of cultivableland, 79.6% of perennial planta-tions and 44.1% of hayfields wasdisbursed to the new owners.20% of the land is still controlledby the state for further disburse-ment. 350 thousand heads ofcattle was sold to private owners.30% of the remaining propertywas also privatised (immovables,vehicles, machines and equip-ment).

The law on foreign invest-ment defines the legal rules,guarantees and incentives forforeign investors. This law alsoregulates the terms of invest-ments by Armenian nationalspermanently residing abroad.The law stipulates the followingincentives and guarantees forforeign investors:

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� the legal regime for foreigninvestors and its implementationmay not be less favourable thanthe same regime for locals

� in the event of changes inthe legislation in effect at thetime of the investment, foreigninvestors shall be granted a fiveyear grace period

� foreign investors are re-

served the right to repatriatetheir profit, their property andother legitimately accrued as-sets

� foreign investors are freefrom the payment of customsduties on property imported foruse in their production

� other incentives and guaran-tees exist.


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Air transport

Air transport is the most con-venient medium for arriving toArmenia. International flightsoperate from the airports of�Zvartnots� and �Erebouni� inYerevan and �Shirak� in Gyumri.The international �Zvartnots�airport of Yerevan is the hub formost of the planes arriving to Ar-

menia, it has been granted a cer-tificate of fitness for operationin minimal meteorological con-ditions of the InternationalCivil Aeronautics Organization(ICAO) of the 2nd category, this

means the airport can accept andrelease aircraft under anyweather conditions. The upgrad-ing of the technical capacity andthe quality of service at the�Zvartnots� airport carries on.The construction of a moderncargo terminal with the capacityof 80 thousand metric tons offreight has just been completed.

Local airfields exist in all tenmajor cities of Armenia. Domes-tic flights out of Yerevan takeplace out of the �Erebouni� air-port on helicopters or smallplanes.

TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

The �Zvartnots� airport of Yerevan

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Distance in kilometers between Yerevan and

Aleppo 989 Delhi 3,315 Rio de Janeiro 10,725

Amsterdam 3,796 Dublin 4,550 Rome 2,810

Ankara 1,112 Hamburg 3,380 San Francisco 14,560

Antananarivo 6,650 Helsinki 2,860 Singapore 7,430

Athens 1,850 Istanbul 1,715 Sofia 1,885

Baghdad 845 Jakarta 8,190 St. Petersburg 2,470

Baku 550 Lisbon 4,745 Stepanakert 225

Beijing 6,240 London 4,030 Stockholm 3,120

Beirut 1,105 Los Angeles 14,430 Tbilissi 278

Belgrade 2,210 Madrid 3,705 Tehran 810

Berlin 2,990 Mexico city 13,520 Tokyo 8,450

Berne 3,315 Moscow 1,850 Varna 1,867

Budapest 2,405 Ottawa 10,270 Vienna 2,405

Buenos Aires 12,545 Paris 3,835 Vladivostok 7,345

Cairo 1,625 Prague 2,795 Warsaw 2,450

Canberra 12,870 Reykjavik 5.850 Washington 10,465

Damascus 1,040 Riga 2,210 Wellington 14,690

Armenia is connected by air routes to the following destinations:

(as of July, 1999)

�Armenian Airlines� (�Zvartnots� airport of Yerevan)

Aleppo Kiev Saint Petersburg

Amsterdam Milan Samara

Ashgabad Minsk Simferopol

Athens Moscow Sochi

Beirut Nijni Novgorod Sofia

Dubai Novosibirsk Tashkend

Frankfurt am Main Odessa Tbilissi

Istanbul Paris Tehran

Volgograd


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�Armenian Airlines� (�Erebouni� airport of Yerevan)

Anapa Mineralniye Vodi Stavropol

Kharkov Rostov Vladikavkaz

Krasnodar Saratov

�Armenian Airlines� (�Shirak� airport of Gyumri)

Krasnodar Moscow Samara

Mineralniye Vodi Rostov

Other airlines (�Zvartnots� airport of Yerevan)

Anapa Lvov Saint Petersburg

Astrakhan Lugansk Samara

Chelyabinsk Maikop Saratov

Dneprodzrzhinsk Mineralniye Vodi Simferopol

Donetsk Minsk Sochi

Ekaterinburg Moscow Stavropol

Izhevsk Nijniy Novgorod Tehran

Kharkov Novosibirsk Ufa

Kiev Odessa Volgograd

Krasnodar Orenbourg Voronezh

Krasnoyarsk Perm Zaporozhye

London Rostov Zürich

It should be noted that the Summer and Winter flight schedules are dif-ferent. The local time is ahead of UTC/GMT by 5 hours in Summer and 4hours in Winter.

Time zone chart(The Summer time difference is noted in the parenthesis)

Algiers +1 India +5.5

Argentina -3(-2) Indonesia, Jakarta +7

Armenia +4(+5) Iran +3.5(+4.5)

Australia, Melbourne +10(+11) Ireland UTC(+1)

Bahamas -5(-4) Israel +2(+3)

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Railways

The total length of the Arme-nian railway network is 829 ki-lometers, 90% of it is electrified.One rail line connects Armeniawith Georgia (to the Black Seaports of Batumi and Poti, as wellas to Russia and Europe), twolines with Azerbaijan (to Russiaand Europe) and one line withTurkey.

The rail lines to Azerbaijanand Turkey are currently inope-rational.

Bermuda -4(-3) Japan +9

Bolivia -4 Malaysia +8

Brazil, Rio -3(-2) Mexico, Mexico city -6

Bulgaria +2(+3) Morocco UTC

Canary Islands UTC(+1) New Zealand +12(+13)

China, Beijing +8(+9) Philippines +8

Chile -4(-3) Romania +2(+3)

Colombia -5 Russia, Moscow +3(+4)

Cuba -5(-4) Saudi Arabia +3

Egypt +2(+3) South Africa +2

Europe, Western, Thailand +7

Northern, Central +1(+2) Tunisia +1

Finland +2(+3) Turkey +2(+3)

Georgia +3(+4) USA:

Great Britain UTC(+1) New York -5(-4)

Greece +2 San Francisco -8(-7)

The Yerevan railway station


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Highways

The total length of Armenianhighways is 7,700 kilometers.The length of interstate high-ways is 1,400 kilometers, of re-gional highways � 2,520 kilome-ters, of local highways � 3,720 ki-lometers. 98% of the interstateand 77% of the remaining high-ways are paved. Practically all ofthe country�s settlements are in-terconnected with asphalt roads.Intercity bus lines operate out ofYerevan, connecting it to all ma-jor cities of the country, to thetowns and villages of NagornoKarabagh, Georgia and Iran.

The road from Yerevan to thecapital of Nagorno Karabagh Ste-panakert takes 7 hours, to the capi-tal of Georgia Tbilissi � up to 6hours, to the Iranian border (thetown of Meghri) � up to 9 hours.

The surface roads to Azerbaijanand Turkey are currently inopera-tional.

The principal currently functioninginterstate highways are the following:

Yerevan-Ashtarak-Aparan-Spi-tak-Stepanavan-Tashir-the Georgianborder (to Tbilissi)

Yerevan-Ashtarak- Gyumri-Ashotsk-the Georgian border (to theBlack Sea ports of Batumi and Poti)

Yerevan-Yeraskh-Vaik-Goris-Kapan-Meghri-the Iranian border(to Iran and the Middle East).

European traffic regulations arein effect in Armenia. The traffic isright-sided.

The highway to Dilijan

Highway mileage from Yerevan to

Abovian 16 Vagharshapat 21 Kapan 320

Alaverdi 191 Vanadzor 145 Martouni 130

Aparan 59 Vardenis 168 Meghri 393

Ararat 48 Gavar 98 Noyemberian 191

Armavir 48 Geghard 31 Hrazdan 50

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Yerevan City transport

Almost all types of city trans-port operate in Yerevan: bus, trol-ley bus, streetcar, subway, cablecar, taxi service. Almost 90% ofthe population uses the city trans-port, up to 250 thousand peopleuse the subway every year.

The tariff rate (as of December,1998) for one trip on municipal orpublic transport (bus, trolley bus,streetcar, subway, cable car) irrespec-tive of distance travelled is 30 to 50drams, on taxivan (minibus) � 75drams. The rates for private serviceare: buses � up to 50 drams, taxivan(minibus) � up to 100 drams. De-pending on the route the time inter-val between service on individual

stops varies between 15 minutes indaytime and 30 minutes late in theevening.

The subway in Yerevan operatessince 1981, there are 10 stations, twomore are under construction. Thesubway operates between 06:30 and23:00.

The fare is paid directly to thedriver upon exit or to the conductorupon entry. The subway and cablecar tokens and tickets are sold at theentrance to the stations.

TAXI: The fare is between 100and 200 drams per 1 kilometer, de-pending on the direction, the makeof the vehicle and the time of theday. The taxi stops have free cabsavailable almost throughout theday.

Artashat 29 Goris 250 Sevan 66

Artik 105 Gyumri 120 Sissian 217

Ashtarak 20 Jermuk 173 Spitak 100

Ashotsk 165 Dilijan 109 Stepanavan 157

Berd 211 Yeghegnadzor 122 Stepanakert 350

Vaik 139 Ijevan 142 Talin 74

Tbilissi 270

Transport terminals of Yerevan(airports, railway stations, international bus terminals, cable car terminals)

Zvartnots airport Parakar district tel: 282066tel/fax:151123, 282641

Erebouni airport Arshakunyats ave. tel: 440335


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Central bus terminal Admiral Issakov Str. tel: 562931

Northern bus terminal Tbilissi highway tel: 260666

Local bus terminal Sassountsi David square

Yerevan rail station Sassountsi David square tel: 525920

Arabkir rail station 1a Arabkir 29th Str. tel: 252034

Karmir Blour rail station 95 Araratian Str. tel: 482636

Noragavit rail station Noragavit district

Kanaker rail station 112 Z. Kanakertsi Str. tel: 283402

Lower cable car term. 2 Mkhitar Heratsi Str. tel: 550352

Upper cable car term. 66 Amaranotsain Str. tel: 573594

Underground stations

�Barekamoutyun� (�Friendship�) 76 Marshal Baghramian Ave.

�Marshal Baghramian� 21/1 Marshal Baghramian Ave.

�Yeritasardakan� (�Youth�) 3 Avetik Issahakian Str.

�Hanrapetoutyan Hraparak� Hanrapetoutyan square (�Republic Square�)

�Zoravar Andranik� Tigran Mets ave. (�Commander Andranik�)

�Sassountsi David� Sassountsi David square

�Gortsaranain� (�Factory�) 3 Bagratounyats Str.

�Shengavit� 9 Soghomon Tarontsi Str.

�Garegin Nzhdeh hraparak� Garegin Nzhdeh square (�Garegin Nzhdeh square�)

�Charbakh� 62 Araratian Str.

�Ajapnyak� (under construction) Karo Halabian Str.

�Tasnhing taghamas� 1 Gyumrii Str. (�15th district�, under construction)

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Telephone

There are 45 interconnectedautomatic electromechanicaltelephone exchanges in opera-tion in the country.

Presently work is underwayjointly with foreign companies toupgrade the technology and im-prove a number of exchanges,which will result in better do-mestic and long distance tele-phone service.

The long distance service isprovided through the �Intelsat�satellite link, AT&T, �Teleglo-be�, �Sprint�, �British Telecom�,�France Tel� and the microwave

radiolink of the Moscow tele-phone exchange.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

The central post officein Yerevan

Domestic area codes

In Armenia 0+ from the CIS from elsewhere

Yerevan 2 8852 3742

Abovian 61 88561 37461

Agarak (former Meghri region) 930 885930 374930

Aghavnadzor (Vayots Dzor) 46 88546 37446

Aintap 62 8562 37462

Alaverdi 73 88573 37473

Amassia 510 885510 374510

Aparan 520 885520 374520

Aragats 480 88580 37480


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Aramous 61 88561 37461

Ararat 78 88578 37478

Arevshat 45 88545 37445

Armash 78 88578 37478

Armavir (Hoktemberian) 47 88547 37447

Artashat 45 88545 37445

Artik 44 88544 37444

Ashotsk (Ghoukassian) 53 88553 37453

Ashtarak 43 88543 37443

Aygezard 45 88545 37445

Baghramian 33 88533 37433

Berd 71 88571 37471

Charentsavan 31 88531 37431

Dalar 45 88545 37445

Dilijan 720 885720 374720

Gavar (Kamo) 64 88564 37464

Getap 46 88546 37446

Goris 91 88591 37491

Gyumri (Leninakan) 69 88569 37469

Hrazdan 67 88567 37467

Ijevan 63 88563 37463

Jambarak (Krasnoselsk) 65 88565 37465

Jermouk 77 88577 37477

Kapan 92 88592 37492

Maralik 42 88542 37442

Martouni 74 88574 37474

Massis 62 88562 37462

Meghri 930 88530 37430

Mkhchian 45 88545 37445

Nairi (Yeghvard) 68 88568 37468

Nor-Geghi 68 88568 37468

Nor-Hajn 68 88568 37468

Nor-Kharbert 62 88562 37462

Noyemberian 66 88566 37466

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Oshakan 43 88543 37443Sevan 76 88576 37476Shahoumian 45 88545 37445Shinuayr 91 88591 37491Sissian 750 885750 374750Sourenavan 78 88578 37478Spitak 55 88555 37455Stepanavan 560 885560 374560Talin 490 885490 374490Taperakan 78 88578 37478Tashir (Kalinino) 54 88554 37454Tsakhkadzor 35 88535 37435Vagharshapat (Ejmiatsin) 59 88559 37459Vaik (Azizbekov) 79 88579 374Vanadzor (Kirovakan) 57 88575 37457Vardenis 58 88558 37458Vedi 41 88541 37441Yeghegnadzor 46 88546 37446Yeraskh 78 88578 37478

Foreign city codes

Abu Dhabi 971-2 Florence 39-55 New York 1-212

Addis Ababa 251-1 Frankfurt am Main 49-69 Nice 33-93

Adelaide 61-8 Fresno 1-209 Nicosia 357-21

Aleppo 963-21 Geneva 41-22 Novi Sad 3821

Alexandria 20-3 Genoa 39-10 Osaka 81-6

Algeirs 213-2 Gibraltar 350 Oslo 47-2

Amman 962-6 Glasgow 441-41 Ottawa 1-613

Amsterdam 31-20 Glendale 1-818 Panama 507

Ankara 90-4 G� teborg 46-31 Paris 33-1

Athens 30-1 Guadalajara 52-36 Philadelphia 1-215

Baghdad 964-1 Havana 53-7 Plovdiv 259-32

Bangkok 66-2 The Hague 31-70 Poznan 48-61

Barcelona 34-3 Hamburg 49-40 Prague 42-2


174

Basle 41-61 Hanover 49-511 Pretoria 27-12

Beijing 86-1 Hong Kong 852 Quebec city 1-418

Beirut 961-1 Haifa 972-4 Quito 593-2

Belfast 441-232 Harare 263-0 Reykjavik 354-1

Belgrade 38-11 Helsinki 358-0 Rio de Janeiro 55-21

Berlin 49-30 Houston 1-713 Riyadh 699-1

Berne 41-61 Isfahan 98-31 Rome 39-6

Birmingham 441-21 Islamabad 92-51 Rotterdam 31-10

Bogota 57-1 Istanbul 90-212 Salvador 55-71

Bologna 39-51 Izmir 90-51 San Francisco 1-415

Bombay 91-22 Jakarta 62-21 San Marino 39

Bonn 49-228 Jerusalem 972-2 Santiago 56-2

Boston 1-617 Johannesburg 27-31 Sao Paulo 55-21

Bratislava 42-7 Karachi 92-21 Sarajevo 38-71

Brazilia 55-61 Lagos 234-1 Seattle 1-206

Bremen 49-421 La Paz 591-2 Seoul 82-2

Bristol 441-179 Lahore 92-42 Shanghai 86-21

Brussels 32-1 Liverpool 441-51 Sidney 61-2

Bucharest 40-1 Leeds 441-132 Singapore 65

Budapest 36-1 Lima 51-14 Skopje 38-91

Buenos Aires 54-1 Lion 33-7 Sofia 359-2

Burgas 359-56 Lisbon 351-1 Stockholm 46-8

Cairo 20-2 Lausanne 41-21 Stuttgart 49-711

Calgary 1-403 London 441-71 Tabriz 98-41

Canberra 61-62 Los Angeles 1-213, Tehran 98-21

Calcutta 91-33 1-818, 1-310 Tel Aviv 972-3

Capetown 27-21 Ljubljana 38-61 Thessaloniki 30-31

Caracas 58-2 Luxembourg 352 Tokyo 81-3

Cardiff 441-222 Madras 91-44 Torino 39-11

Chicago 1-312 Madrid 34-10 Toronto 1-416

Colombo 94-1 Manchester 441-61 Toulouse 33-61

Copenhagen 45-1 Manila 63-2 Tunis 216-1

Cracow 48-12 Marseilles 33-91 Valetta 356-24

Dakkar 221 Mashhad 98-51 Vancouver 1-604

ARMENIA

175

Dallas 1-214 Melbourne 61-3 Varna 359-52Damascus 963-11 Mexico city 52-5 Vatican 396Delhi 91-11 Milan 39-2 Venice 39-41Detroit 1-313 Monaco 33 Vienna 43-1Dhaka 880-2 Montevideo 598-2 Warsaw 48-22Dubai 971-437 Montreal 1-514 Washington 1-202Dublin 353-1 Munich 49-89 Wroclaw 48-31Düsseldorf 49-211 Nairobi 254-2 Zagreb 38-41Edinburgh 441-31 Naples 39-81 Zurich 41-1

Former USSR city codes 00+country code +

Adler 8622 Kirov 8332 Riga 0132Akmola 31722 Kishineu 0422 Rostov uponAktyubinsk 3132 Kislovodsk 86537 Don 8632Almata 3272 Klaipeda 01261 Rovno 03622Aloushta 06560 Kolomna 09661 Ryazan 0912Anapa 86133 Kostroma 0942 Saint Petersburg 812Andizhan 37422 Kourgan 35222 Samara 8462Angarsk 39518 Koursk 07122 Samarkand 36622Archangelsk 8182 Koustanay 3142 Saransk 83422Ashgabad 3632 Koutaissi 88331 Saratov 8452Astrakhan 8512 Krasnodar 8612 Sebastopol 069Baku 8922 Krasnoyarsk 3912 Semipalatinsk 32222Barnaul 3852 Krivoy Rog 0564 Shaulyay 0121Batumi 88222 Kyzyl-orda 32422 Simferopol 06522Belgorod 07222 Lazarevskaya 8622 Smolensk 08122Benderi 04232 Liepaya 01334 Sochi 8622Berdsk 38341 Lipetsk 0742 Soukhoumi 88122Bishkek 3312 Lougansk 0642 Sourgout 3462Blagoveshensk 41624 Loutsk 03322 Stavropol 8652Bratsk 3952 Lvov 0322 Stepanakert 89322Brest 01622 Magadan 41322 Syktivkar 82122Bryansk 0832 Magnitogorsk 3511 Taganrog 86344Bukhara 36522 Makhachkala 87222 Tallin 0142Cheboksary 8352 Mariupol 06292 Tambov 0752


176

Chekhov 09672 Maykop 87722 Tartu 0147Chelyabinsk 3512 Mineralniye Tashkent 3712Cherkassy 04722 Vodi 86531 Tbilissi 8832Chernigov 04622 Minsk 0172 Ternopol 03500Chernovtsi 03722 Mogilev 0222 Theodossia 06562Chimkent 32522 Moscow 095 Tiraspol 04233Chita 30222 Mourmansk 8152 Togliatti 8469Dagomys 8622 Naberezhnye Tomsk 38222Daugavpils 01354 Chelni 8439 Toula 0872Dneprodzer- Nalchik 86622 Trakai 01238 zhinsk 05692 Namangoun 36922 Tuapse 86167Dnepropetrovsk 0562 Narva 01435 Tumen 3452Donetsk 0622 Navoi 43622 Turkmenbashi 4322Doubna 09621 Neftekamsk 34713 Tver 0822Dushanbe 3772 Nikolaev 05122 Ufa 3472Ekaterinbourg 3432 Nizhnekamsk 84353 Ulan Ude 30122Elektrostal 09657 Nizhniy Uralsk 31122Elista 84722 Novgorod 8312 Vilnius 0122Essentouki 86534 Novgorod 81622 Vinnitsa 04322Fergana 3732 Novocherkassk 86352 Vitebsk 02122Gomel 0232 Novorossiysk 86134 Vladikavkaz 86722Grodno 0152 Novosibirsk 3852 Vladimir 09222Grozny 87122 Odessa 0482 Vladivostok 4232Irkoutsk 3952 Omsk 3812 Volgograd 8442Ivanovo 0932 Orel 0862 Vologda 81722Ivanovo- Orenbourg 3532 Vorkuta 82151 Frankovsk 03422 Oulyanovsk 8422 Voronezh 0732Izhevsk 34122 Oust Yakoutsk 41122Jambul 32622 Kamenogorsk 32322 Yalta 0654Kaliningrad 0112 Ouzhgorod 03122 Yaroslavl 0852Kalouga 08422 Palanga 01236 Yelabouga 84357Karaganda 3212 Pavlodar 31822 Yevpatoria 06569Kaunas 0127 Penza 8412 Yoshkar Ola 8362Kazan 8432 Perm 3422 YuzhnoKemerovo 3842 Petropavlovsk Sakhalinsk 42422Kerch 06561 Kamchatskiy 41522 Yuzhnouralsk 35134

ARMENIA

177

Khabrovsk 4212 Petrozavodsk 81422 Zagorsk 09654Kharkov 0572 Podolsk 09675 Zaporozhie 0612Kherson 05522 Poltava 05322 Zheleznovodsk86532Khmelnitskiy 03822 Pskov 8112 Zhitomir 04122Khosta 8622 Pyarnu 01444Kiev 044 Pyatigorsk 86333

Long distance international phone tariffs

(as of July, 1999)Domestic calls � 20.0 drams per minuteLong distance within the CIS � from 220.0 (Russia, Georgia) to 440.0

(Uzbekistan) drams;European countries � 1056.0 (UK, FRG, Luxembourg), Baltic countries �

220 drams;the remaining countries � from 1056.0 (the USA) to 1300.0 (Brazil,

Singapore) dramsPayphones for intracity and international calls operate by tokens as well

as microchip phonecards available at post offices and newsstands.

Mail tariffs(in drams, as of July, 1999)

Domestic CIS countries Other countriesWeight postcard letter book post postcard letter book post postcard letter book post

up to 200 g. 20 40 30 110 170 100 170 250 14021�100 g. 100 60 440 250 625 340101�250 g. 200 120 980 580 1,330 750251�500 g. 380 210 1,943 1,150 2,660 1,450501�1,000 g. 660 350 3,550 2,130 4,810 2,6401,001�2,000 g. 1,080 490 6,250 3,760 8,310 4,491over 2,000 g.for every 1,000g. 260 2,250 2,580

Parcel tariffs are set individually for every country and are posted at postoffices. The following post offices are designated for parcel service to foreigncountries: ## 2, 6, 10, 14, 20, 56, 65 and 78 (parcels to the CIS countries areaccepted at all post offices).

Note: One US dollar = 540 Armenian drams (as of July, 1999).


178

Domestic mail codes

Abovian 377911 Kajaran 377815

Agarak 378510 Kapan 377810

Akhourian 377530 Klageran 377300

Akhtala 377120 Loussakert 378564

Alaverdi 377130 Maralik 377640

Amassia 377560 Martouni 378710

Anipemza 377711 Massis 378334

Aparan 378450 Meghri 377910

Aragats (Tsaghkahovit) 378452 Meghrout 377277

Ararat 378222 Nairi (Yeghvard) 378414

Armavir (Hoktemberian) 377760 Nor Hajn 378519

Artashat 378240 Nor Kharberd 378336

Artik 377610 Noubarashen (Sovetashen) 375071

Arzni 378518 Noyemberian 377110

Ashotsk (Ghoukassian) 377540 Pemzashen 377611

Ashtarak 378410 Sevan 378610

Ayroum 377100 Sissian 378010

Berd 377010 Spitak 377410

Charentsavan 378562 Stepanavan 377320

Dastakert 378033 Talin 377340

Dilijan 377250 Tashir (Kalinino) 377133

Gagarin 378615 Toumanian 378552

Gavar (Kamo) 378630 Tsakhkadzor 378552

Goris 377830 Vagharshapat (Ejmiatsin) 378310

Gyumri Vanadzor

(Leninakan) from 377500 to... (Kirovakan) from 377200 to...

Hrazdan 378550 Vardenis 378810

Ijevan 277260 Vayk (Azizbekov) 37811

Jambarak (Krasnoselsk) 377290 Vedi 378210

Jermuk 378840 Yeghegnadzor 378140

Yerevan from 37500

ARMENIA

179

Armenia is an attractive countryfor tourists. Since times immemorialtravellers come here to acquaintthemselves with the rich history, an-

cient and modern monuments of ar-chitecture, urban development, cul-ture, to climb mountain peaks, torest and recuperate at spas. Most ofthe country�s natural landscapeshave preserved their primordialbeauty and purity. The fauna andflora of Armenia are diverse: over3,000 species of plants, 450 speciesof vertebrates. 10 thousand speciesof insects, 1,000 species of inverte-brates, 302 species of birds, 45 spe-cies of reptiles, 23 species of fish, 5species of amphibia. Some of theseare rare and are classified as endan-gered species.

Armenia used to be one of themost visited republics of the former

Soviet Union: in the 1980s 700thousand tourists came to the re-public every year. In view of eco-nomic difficulties of the recentyears the flow of tourists has signifi-cantly declined. The capacity of thehotels also shrank since some ofthem were designated as temporaryaccommodation for the familiesthat were left without shelter afterthe 1988 earthquake in NorthernArmenia and for the refugees fromAzerbaijan. Presently the hotels, re-sorts, pensions and spas are gradu-ally freed from temporary residents,renovated and reclaimed by thetourist industry. New smaller pri-vate hotels are built.

The further development of tour-ist industry that is so promising forArmenia requires substantial capitalinvestment to be steered towards up-grading infrastructure.

TOURISM, HOTELS, RESORTS

Hotel �Dvin� in Yerevan

Hotel �Armenia� in Yerevan


180

Yerevan hotels

hotel address telephone facsimile

�Armenia� 1 Amirian Str., 525393 151803Yerevan, 375002 525383

560844

�Ani� 19 Sayat nova Str., 520775 520545Yerevan, 375010 520724

523961

�Dvin� 40 PAronian Str., 536343 151924Yerevan, 375002 536480

�Erebouni� 26/1 Nalbandian Str., 564993Yerevan, 375010 583815

�Hrzdan� 72 Dzorapi Str., 535332 537095Yerevan, 375002

�Shirak� 13a Movses Khorenatsi Str. 529915

�Arabkir� 54b Komitas Str. 231990

�Nairi� 270 Amaranotsain Str. 652221

�Yerevan� 14 Abovian Str. 581392

�Sevan� 8 Khorhrdarani Str. 533108

�Tsitsernak� 18 G. Hovsepian Str. 653476

�Sport� Tsarav Aghbyuri Str.

�Sebastia� 46 Leningradian Str. 394700

�Hye business Suits� 8 Hanrapetootyan Str. 567567 151522

�Bass� 3 Aygedzor Str. 221353 151429222638268975

�Arma� 275 Norki Ayginer Str. 581843 522779654221

�Aviatrans� 4 Abovian Str. 567228567226

ARMENIA

181

There are over 7,500 sources ofsweet water and 1,300 sources ofmineral water in Armenia, most ofthem have healing properties.There are over 100 resorts, pen-sions and sanatoriums in differentregions of Armenia located in for-ested and alpine areas: in Arzni,Hankavan, Aghveran, Byurakan,Dilijan, Jermuk, Ijevan, Sevan,Tsaghkadzor, in the regions ofZangezour, Gougark and others,including resorts placed on sour-ces of mineral water.

Apart from being pleasant tablewaters, the mineral waters of Arme-nia have healing properties and arerecommended by doctors for thetreatment of the following condi-tions: �Hankavan� � recommendedfor disruptions of motility and secre-tory function of the stomach withhyper or low acidity, stomach ulcer,chronic colitis, enterocolitis, liverdysfunction etc; �Ararat� � recom-mended for gastrointestinal condi-tions, gastritis, stomach and duode-nal ulcer, dysfunction of the liver,gall-bladder, bile ducts; �Arzni� �recommended for chronic catarrhsof the stomach and bowels, bilegravel; �Bjni� � recommended for

the treatment of gastrointestinalconditions, liver etc.; �Jermuk� �recommended for jaundice, bilegravel, gall-bladder inflammation,stomach and bowel ulcer; �Dilijan�� recommended for chronic catarrhs

of the stomach and bowels, inflam-mation of the gall-bladder, jaundice,cholecystopathy, hepatocholecistite,bile gravel etc.; �Lijk� � recom-mended for chronic hepatitis andcolitis; �Lori� � recommended forconditions of digestive organs and,as baths for conditions of the pe-ripheral nervous system, locomotorframe, the genitals; �Sevan� � rec-ommended for conditions of thegastrointestinal tract, the liver, bileducts, and disruption of the me-tabolism.

ARMENIAN RESORTS, SPAS

The Arzni resort


182

Climate

Dry, continental climate pre-vails in Armenia. The mountain-ous topography is determinant forthe weather conditions. Within astretch of 30 to 50 kilometers onemay encounter several climaticzones succeeding each other. Inmost of the territory of the coun-try the seasons break down as fol-lows: Spring � March, April,May; Summer � June, June, July,August; Autumn � September,October, November; Winter �December, January, February.

The average monthly tempera-ture of the air in Yerevan is:

in January -3.4 degrees Cin February -0.9in March +5.4in April +12.4in May +17.4in June +21.6in July +25.6in August +25.3in September +20.4in October +13.5in November +6.5in December -0.1average annual +12.0

The hottest months in the Araratvalley (Yerevan) are July and August,the temperature may rise up to +42degrees Celsius (absolute maxi-mum). The coldest months are Janu-ary and February, the frost may getas low as -30 degrees Celsius (abso-lute minimum).

The country�s absolute minimumwas recorded on the shore of Arpilake, -46 degrees Celsius. Precipita-tion is the most frequent in Springand Autumn. In Winter it snows, inmountainous areas the snow covermay reach the height of two meters,in the Ararat valley (Yerevan) thesnow cover does not stay for long.

The average monthly precipita-tion in the Ararat valley (Yerevan) is:

in January 24 mmin February 26 mmin March 32 mmin April 43 mmin May 52 mmin June 27 mmin July 13 mmin August 10 mmin September 13 mmin October 26 mmin November 28 mmin December 22 mmtotal annual 316 mmThere are 328 sunny days in the

year in the Ararat valley.

THE CLIMATE. CLOTHING. TRADITIONALCOSTUMES

ARMENIA

183

Clothing, traditionalcostumes

Armenians have a great varietyof traditional costumes. Every re-gion of historical Armenia had itsown unique style of clothing.Sometimes it was possible to judgethe origin of a person, whether so-cial or territorial, by the costume.

Presently European attire pre-vails in Armenia. Senior citizensin Zangezour and Artsakh stillwear traditional apparel. It ispossible to form an opinionabout Armenian traditional cos-tume by visiting the museums orfolkloric concerts.

A girl in a traditional costume playsthe traditional Armenian instrument

Kanon


184

THE ARMENIAN ALPHABET

² ³ u as in rub Ø Ù m as in mall

´ µ b as in ball Ú Û y as in hay

¶ · g as in gut Ü Ý n as in nanny

¸ ¹ d as in duck Þ ß sh as in shin

º » ye as in yell à á vo or o as in ox

¼ ½ z as in zilch â ã ch as in chalk

¾ ¿ e as in edge ä å p as in spy

À Á u as in fur æ ç j as in jam

Â Ã t as in tin è é r as in rubbish

Ä Å s as in pleasure ê ë s as in sky

Æ Ç i as in ink ì í v as in veal

È É l as in lock î ï t as in sty

Ê Ë ch as in Scottish Loch ð ñ r as in far

Ì Í ts as in tsk ò ó ts as in tsunami

Î Ï k as in sky àõ áõ oo as in spook

Ð Ñ h as in hall ö ÷ p as in pass

Ò Ó dz as in Dzungaria ø ù k as in king

Ô Õ r as in French gar� on ºí ¨ yev

Ö × tj ú û o as in ox

ü ý f as in far

ARMENIA

185

SURVIVAL LEXICON IN THE ARMENIANLANGUAGE

Hello Bare´v (dzes) ´³ñ¨ (Ò»½)

Good morning Bari´ looys ´³ñÇ ÉáõÛë

Good day Bari´ or ´³ñÇ ûñ

Good evening Bari´ yereko´ ´³ñÇ »ñ»Ïá

Have a nice day Hajeli´ or em Ð³×»ÉÇ ûñ »Ùmaghtou´m Ù³ÕÃáõÙ

How do you do? Inchpe´s ek ÆÝãå»±ë »ù

Let me introduce Tooyl tvek ÂáõÛÉ ïí»ùmyself, my name is nerkayana´l, im Ý»ñÏ³Û³Ý³É, ÇÙVardan anouneh´ Vardan eh ³ÝáõÝÁ ì³ñ¹³Ý ¿

Let me introduce Tooyl tvek ÂáõÛÉ ïí»ùMrs/Mr Vardanian nerkayatsne´l Ý»ñÏ³Û³óÝ»É,

tikiń/paroń ïÇÏÇÝ/å³ñáÝVardanianiń ì³ñ¹³ÝÛ³ÝÇÝ

There is a call for Khndrou´m em ÊÝ¹ñáõÙ »Ù

Mrs/Mr Vardanian tikiń/paroń ïÇÏÇÝ/å³ñáÝVardanianiń ì³ñ¹³ÝÛ³ÝÇÝherakhosi´ mot Ñ»é³ËáëÇ Ùáï

What is your name? Inchpe´s eh dzer ÆÝãå»±ë ¿ Ò»ñanouńeh ³ÝáõÝÁ

How old are you? Kani´ tarekań ek ø³ÝÇ± ï³ñ»Ï³Ý »ù

I am thirty Yes yeresouń ºë »ñ»ëáõÝtarekań em ï³ñ»Ï³Ý »Ù

Where are you going? Oor ek gnoum? àõ±ñ »ù ·ÝáõÙ

I go to Yerevan Yes gnoum em ºë ·ÝáõÙ »ÙYerevań ºñ¨³Ý

I need a cab to Indz petk eh taxi ÆÝÓ å»ïù ¿ ï³ùëÇhotel Armenia minche´v Armenia ÙÇÝã¨ §²ñÙ»ÝÇ³¦

hyoorano´ts ÑÛáõñ³Ýáó


186

How do I get to the Inchpe´s ÆÝãå»ë ·Ý³ÉRepublic square? gnal minche´v Ð³Ýñ³å»ïáõÃÛ³Ý

Hanrapetoutyań Ññ³å³ñ³Ïhrapara´k

I need to get to Indz petk eh gnal ÆÝÓ å»ïù ¿ ·Ý³É3 Abovian street Aboviań pogho´ts, ²µáíÛ³Ý ÷áÕáó,

toun tiv yere´k ïáõÝ ÃÇí 3

I need a single Khndrou´m em ÊÝ¹ñáõÙ »Ù(double) room until mekteghano´ts Ù»Ïï»Õ³ÝáóMay 10 (yerkteghano´ts) (»ñÏï»Õ³Ýáó)

senya´k minche´v ë»ÝÛ³Ï ÙÇÝã¨mayissi´ ta´seh Ù³ÛÇëÇ ï³ëÁ

Where do you live? Vorte´gh ek aprou´m àñï»±Õ »ù ³åñáõÙ

I live in hotel Yes aprou´m em ºë ³åñáõÙ »ÙArmenia Armenia §²ñÙ»ÝÇ³¦

hyooranotsou´m ÑÛáõñ³ÝáóáõÙ

What is your Icn eh dzer Æ±Ýã ¿ Ò»ñoccupation? masnagitoutyouńeh Ù³ëÝ³·ÇïáõÃÛáõÝÁ

I am a doctor (techer) Yes bzhishk ºë µÅÇßÏ(ousoutsićh) em (áõëáõóÇã) »Ù

This is my first Yes arajiń (yerkro´rd) ºë ³é³çÇÝ (»ñÏ-(second) time in the anga´m em Hayastani´ ñáñ¹) ³Ý·³Ù »ÙRepublic of Armenia Hanrapetoutyounou´m Ð³Û³ëï³ÝÇ Ð³Ý-

ñ³å»ïáõÃÛáõÝáõÙ

It�s a sunny day today Ayso´r arevo´t or eh ²Ûëûñ ³ñ¨áï ûñ ¿

It rains (snows) Andzre´v (dzyoun) eh ²ÝÓñ¨ (ÓÛáõÝ) ¿gali´s ·³ÉÇë

The weather is Yeghana´keh lav ºÕ³Ý³ÏÁ É³ífine (bad) (vat) eh (í³ï) ¿

How much does Sa inch arzhe´h ê³ Ç±Ýã ³ñÅ»this cost?

Thank you Shnorhakalootyouń ÞÝáñÑ³Ï³ÉáõÃÛáõÝ(shnorhaka´l em) (ßÝáñÑ³Ï³É »Ù)

ARMENIAARMENIA

187

Coulod you please Assatse´k khndre´m ²ë³ó»ù ËÝ¹ñ»Ù,tell me when is the vor zhamiń eh á±ñ Å³ÙÇÝ ¿breakfast (lucnh, nakhaja´sheh Ý³Ë³×³ßÁ,supper)? (ja´sheh, entri´keh) (×³ßÁ, ÁÝÃñÇùÁ)

Breakfast is at 8, Nakhaja´sheh Ü³Ë³×³ßÁªlunch at 13:00, zha´meh ootiń, Å³ÙÁ áõÃÇÝsupper at 19:00 ja´sheh tasnere´kin, ×³ßÁª ï³ëÝ»ñ»ùÇÝ

entri´keh tasninnin ÁÝÃñÇùÁª ï³ëÝÇÝÝÇÝ

Good bye Tstesootyouń ò�ï»ëáõÃÛáõÝ

Good night Bari´ gishe´r ´³ñÇ ·Çß»ñ

Until meeting Minche´v nor ØÇÝã¨ Ýáñhandipoumne´r Ñ³Ý¹ÇåáõÙÝ»ñ

I shall be back soon Shooto´v Þáõïáíkveradarna´m Ïí»ñ³¹³éÝ³Ù

SPELLING OF ARMENIAN NUMERALS

1 mek Ù»Ï 70 yotanasouń ÛáÃ³Ý³ëáõÝ 2 yerkou´ »ñÏáõ 80 ootsouń áõÃëáõÝ 3 yere´k »ñ»ù 90 innsouń ÇÝÝëáõÝ 4 chors ãáñë 1.5 mek yev kes Ù»Ï ¨ Ï»ë 5 hing ÑÇÝ· 1/25 mek karo´rd Ù»Ï ù³éáñ¹ 6 vets í»ó 11 tasnme´k ï³ëÝÙ»Ï 7 yot ÛáÃ 22 xanerku´ ùë³Ý»ñÏáõ 8 oot áõÃ 36 yeresounve´ts »ñ»ëáõÝí»ó 9 ińeh ÇÝÁ 100 haryou´r Ñ³ñÛáõñ 0 zro ½ñá 200 yerku´ haryou´r »ñÏáõ Ñ³ñÛáõñ0.5 kes Ï»ë 1,000 haza´r Ñ³½³ñ10 tas ï³ë 6,000 vets haza´r í»ó Ñ³½³ñ20 xan ùë³Ý 100,000 haryou´r haza´r Ñ³ñÛáõñ Ñ³½³ñ30 yeresouń »ñ»ëáõÝ 300,000 yere´k haryou´r »ñ»ù Ñ³ñÛáõñ

haza´r Ñ³½³ñ40 karasouń ù³é³ëáõÝ 1,000,000 mek milyoń Ù»Ï ÙÇÉÇáÝ50 hisouń ÑÇëáõÝ 2,100,000 yerkou´ milyoń »ñÏáõ ÙÇÉÇáÝ60 vatsouń í³ÃëáõÝ haryou´r haza´r Ñ³ñÛáõñ Ñ³½³ñ

MISCELLANEOUS DATA AND USEFUL TIDBITSMISCELLANEOUS DATA AND USEFUL TIDBITS

188

Archaeological excavations at-test that land in Armenia was cul-tivated as early as in the neolithicPeriod. In the history of the ori-gins of cultured plants the Arme-

nian Plateau is considered one oftheir nidi. This is best illustratedwith the example of wheat: manyspecies of wild as well as culturedwheat grow all over the ArmenianPlateau. Rye, grapes, pears, my-robalan, cherries, pomegranate,walnut, quince, almond, figs andcantaloupes are also believed tohave originated in Armenia andits environs. It is a well knownfact that apricots have been firstintrioduced to Europe from Ar-menia, back then they were called�Armeniaca�.

Traditional Armenian cuisineis diverse and rich in food pre-pared from cultured and wildplants and fruits, game and fish.

Special attention is paid in Ar-menia to table manners and cer-emonial. The day usually beginswith a light breakfast, the lunch-time is between noon and 3 PM,and supper is served anytimefrom five to nine. Some of theworking people have developed ahabit of a second breakfast be-tween noon and 3 PM, to be fol-lowed by dinner after work in theevening. Most of the Armenianfamilies have tea a few hours be-fore going to sleep.

The most common breakfastcontains cheese, honey, jam, but-ter, sausage and similar cold

ON ARMENIAN CUISINE

An Armenian chef

The Central roofed producemarket in Yerevan. The view from

Mashtots avenue

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189

meats, eggs in some form, franks,tea or coffee. Dinner includeshors d�oeuvres, a soup, hot meator fish dishes, fruit, pastries, tea

or coffee. Supper is similar todinner, without the soup.

Catering in hotel restaurantsbasically follows the same prin-ciples as outlined above. Meals oftraditional Armenian and Euro-pean cuisine prevail in the restau-rants. Armenian cuisine leans to-ward the European in its paletteof flavours, although some dishescontain dominant elements morebefitting Eastern cooking.

This guide intentionally omitsreferences to restaurants recom-mended for food and entertain-ment, since during the years fol-lowing Armenian independenceand the introduction of marketrelations scores of new restau-rants, cafes and bars have emergedalong with the existing traditionalones, and competition makes

them continually improve andupgrade the service. We presumethat by the time of the publicationof this guide or a visit by a poten-tial guest more pertinent informa-tion shall become available.

We think it expedient to offer adescription of most frequentlytaken traditional dishes, appetizers,breads, wines and brandies (co-gnacs) to be used as guidelines byour guests during home visits anddining out. This will be followedby a concise �Gastronomic Glos-sary�, which will hopefully assistour guests in shopping and dining.

TRADITIONAL BREAD

LAVA´SHLavash is a thin ellipsoidal slip of

baked dough up to one meter longand 50 centimeters wide. Lavash hasno crust and therefore no inside, it issoft and flexible. Dried lavash has avery long shelf life and may be recon-ditioned by wetting, it becomes onceagain supple and tasty like fresh. Tra-ditionally lavash is baked in thetonir, a special clay vessel oven bur-ied upright in the ground. Usuallylavash was baked in the warm seasonand stockpiled for the winter. Pres-ently lavash is also baked in modernovens using a special technology.

MATNAKA´SHMatnakash is a flat oval or

round-shaped loaf with a rim along

Baking lavash


190

the perimeter and lengthwise fur-rows. The dough for matnakash ismade with yeast leaven.

HRAZDA´NThis is a high rectangular loaf

with a crisp crust and occasionalgrooves. It is baked by leaveneddough technique.

The bakeshops usually offer a wideselection of both traditional breadsand a diversity of other types, includ-ing Georgian and European varieties.

COLD DISHES ANDHORS D�OEUVRES

The cold dishes and horsd�oeuvres of the Armenian cui-sine are the copious prelude to thenational meal. These are the vari-ous salads with legumes, stewedgreens: mallow, sorrel, spinach,asparagus, portulaca (dandur),falcaria, fennel, marinated andpickled greens: horse-fennel,ramson, marjoram, celery andothers, as well as meats, poultryand fish. Combination dishes arequite common, such as passoutstolma. The customary appetizersare meat bastourma and meatsoujoukh permeated with garlic,pepper and caraway flavours. Ap-petizers with the use of variouscheeses with garlic and walnut arealso quite piquant. The use ofspices, nuts, vinegar, matsoun and

sour cream makes cooking espe-cially delightful. Fresh greens andvegetables, diced, sliced andchopped in different combina-tions are a must for starters.

BASTOURMA´These are pressed and dried slices

of lean beef, previously soaked insalt and coated with a spicy mash(chaman). Served as a cold appetizerthinly sliced.

SOUJOU´KHThin sausages stuffed with a fill-

ing of ground beef and spices. Servedsliced as a cold appetizer.

PASSOU´TS TOLMA´ (Lententolma wrapped in pickled cabbage orgrape leaves)

The filling is made of sautéedonions, tomato paste, soaked lentils,crushed wheat, beans, peas. It iswrapped in pickled cabbage or grapeleaves and cooked. Served cold.

MATSOUN (YOGURT)A sour dairy product from bovine,

sheep or buffalo milk, fermented withyeast and special bacteria. Matsounis good for food, it is used as a babyformula and recommended for gas-trointestinal conditions.

SOUPS

Meat, poultry fish and mush-room stock, vegetable and fruitbroth, as well as milk, matsoun(yogurt) and buttermilk are thestaple for soups. The remaining

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191

ingredients could be meat, veg-etables, pasta, groats, fruit, spices.

KATNAPOU´RPreviously soaked rice stewed

until half-cooked is boiled in hotmilk to a squashy condition with saltand sugar added.

SPASEgg and flour pulp is stirred into

matsoun diluted with water andboiled together with stewed rice orcrushed wheat, mint and fresh cori-ander leaves. Sautéed onions areadded by the taste.

KHASHPainstakingly washed and scraped

bovine shins, previously soaked inwater for 24 hours, are boiled in un-salted water until the flesh flakes offthe bones. Stewed tripe is added half-way through the cooking.

Khash is served scorching hotwith stand-alone salt, crushed garlicin stock, radish and dried lavash.

Khash is not an everyday house-hold staple, its consumption has aceremonial air to it. It is tradition-ally made in the cold season, andguests are treated to it in the morn-ing hours (one should forbear break-fast at home). Salads, appetizers andother dishes are a profanation of thekhash ritual.

The following is a listing of themost common hot meals.

TOLMA´

1. Beef or mutton tolma in grapewrapped leaves.

The filling is a mix of groundmeet, rice and greens wrapped ingrape leaves, immersed in water orstock and boiled over low fire.Served with stand-alone matsoun tobe poured over it (crushed garlicmay me mixed into the matsoun totaste).

2. Beef or mutton tolma in cab-bage leaves.

The filling, the same as with grapeleaves, wrapped in slightly blanchedcabbage leaves, immersed in water orstock and boiled. Diced tomatoes ortomato paste are added. Slicedquince, dried fruit and apples aresometimes laid out in the casserole,cooked along and then served withtolma.

KOLOLA´KSmall balls made of fresh lean

beef battered by a wooden malletinto a homogenous slushy mass.Eggs, cilantro, flour, milk, and vodkaare stirred into the mass. The ballsare cooked in stock. Served withcrushed wheat porridge made withthe remaining stock, and withmelted ghee.

HARISSAThis is a kind of homogenous

porridge made of previously stewedand boned chicken and coarselyground soaked wheat. It is cookedfor quite a long time, stirred by awooden paddle throughout. Servedwith melted ghee and cinnamon orsautéed onions.


192

KHOROVATS (barbecued)pork, veal, mutton

The peculiarity of Armeniankhorovats is in the preparatorymarination of meat, that is the mak-ing of bastourma. The meat cubes aresalted, sprinkled with black pepperand chopped onions, stirred in earth-enware or enamelware, closed with alid and left to stay for a few hours.The marinated meat is then put onskewers (shampours) and roastedover hot coals (with no flame).

In the summertime khorovats isusually served with tomatoes, egg-plants and bell peppers baked onskewers over hot coals. More oftenthan not these are skinned and dicedinto a salmagundi with greens added(cilantro, dill, parsley, green onionsand shallot). In wintertime khorovatsis served with tomato paste, driedsweet basil and chopped onions.

Red dry wine should be servedwith khorovats.

ARMENIAN FISH

Fish in Armenia breeds inSevan, Arpi and Akna lakes, inrivers and dozens of artificiallakes and reservoirs.

Sevan ishkhan (trout)The following types breed in lake

Sevan: winter ishkhan, summerishkhan, gegharkouni and bojak(midget breed). Large fish weigh upto 15 kilos. The Sevan gegharkouni

is also bred in small alpine lakes.The flesh is pink and tender.

River trout (karmrakhayt)The flesh is pale pink and tender.

Breeds in mountain rivers.Sevan whiefish (sig)Introduced and naturalized in

lake Sevan from the Ladoga andChud lakes in Russia.

The flesh is white and tender.Sevan khramulya (koghak)The flesh is white and lean with

fine bones.

Sevan barbel (beghavor)The flesh is white and lean.Carp (tsatsan)The flesh is white and lean. Breeds

in Arpi and Akna lakes and in Arax,Hrazdan and Sevjour rivers.

A good catch

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193

Sheatfish, roach, redhead chub(khasham) and other fish also breedin Armenian reservoirs.

Armenia has a developed networkof fish nurseries. Rainbow trout, carp,Chinese carp, silver carp and otherfish are bred in these nurseries.

ARMENIAN WINES

Armenia produces over 50 dif-ferent brands of wines, 7 brands ofchampagne and sparkling wines.

Qualitywise these wines breakdown into: ordinary � aged for up toone year; fine � aged between 2 and 5years and made by special technol-ogy; and collectible � fine wines ad-ditionally aged for over three years.

The wines break down by theircomposition into: table wines �natural wines without the additionof alcohol, these include dry andmedium wines, their alcohol contentis between 10 to 17 percent. Thisgroup includes ordinary white wines�Arteni�, �Ayroum�, �Arax�, �Lal-var�, �Hrazdan�, �Meghradzor�,fine wines �Berd�, �Viskevaz�,�Ejmiatsin�, �Byurakan�, ordinaryred and rose wines �Aragats�, �Ge-tap�, �Garni�, �Artashat�, �Hoghiaryoun� (�Earth Blood�), fine redwines �Norashen�, �Areni�, mediumwines �Vernashen�, �Red demi-sweet�, �Rose demi-sweet�;

fortified wines � made with theaddition of rectified alcohol, their

proof is 19% of volume and more. Thisgroup includes strong, dessert, me-dium, sweet and liqueur wines, includ-ing the fine wines �Aygeshat�,�Ashtarak�, �Arevik�, �Arevshat�,�Getashen�, �Oshakan�, �Hoktembe-ryan Dessert�, ordinary wines�Anoush�, �Nazeli�, �Zvartnots�,�Kagor�, �Saperavi�, �Gayane�,�White Muscat�, �Rose Muscat�,�Madeira�, �Haykavan�, ports�Yerevanian�, �Red�, �Ararat� andothers. Most of the Armenian winesthat have received gold and silvermedals at international competitionsand samplings belong to this category;

aromatic wines � made with theuse of rectified alcohol, sucrose andherbal extracts. Their alcohol con-tent is up to 16 percent of volume.The most common wine of this cat-egory is �Nectareni�.

Armenian wines have beenconsistently awarded medals at

international competitions


194

ARMENIAN COGNACS(BRANDIES)

Cognac production in Arme-nia was founded about a hundredyears ago. Over 15 marcs havebeen developed and producedsince.

According to the age, proof andother features Armenian cognacs(brandies) are classified as follows:ordinary, fine and collectible.

Ordinary cognacs are designatedby stars. The number of stars signi-fies the years of ageing of the cognacdistillate: 3 stars (40% vol.), 4 stars(41% vol.), 5 stars (42% vol.). The�Ani� and �Ararat� ordinary cognacsare blended from six year spirits.

Fine cognacs differ by age,blend, proof and colour. All Arme-nian fine cognacs have consistentlyreceived gold and silver medals atinternational competitions:

�Entir� (�Choice�) � alcohol con-tent is 42% of volume, 7 years of age-ing;

�Hayastan� (�Armenia�) � alco-hol content is 45% of volume, over10 years of ageing;

�Dvin� � alcohol content is 50%of volume, over 10 years of ageing;

�Yerevan� � alcohol content is 57%of volume, over 10 years of ageing;

�Hobelyanakan� (�Jubilee�) �alcohol content is 43% of volume, 10years of ageing on the average;

�Akhtamar� � alcohol content is42% of volume, 10 years of ageing onthe average;

�Tonakan� (�Festive�) � alcoholcontent is 42% of volume, 15 yearsof ageing on the average;

�Vaspourakan� � alcohol contentis 40% of volume, 18 years of ageingon the average;

�Nairi� � alcohol content is 41%of volume, 20 years of ageing on theaverage;

�40 Years� � alcohol content is40% of volume, 40 years of ageing onthe average;

�50 Years� � alcohol content is40% of volume, 50 years of ageing onthe average.

Collectible cognacs are blendedfrom best quality fine cognacs withadditional ageing of over threeyears.

Armenian cognacs have beenacclaimed as the best in the world

more than once

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GASTRONOMIC GLOSSARY

IN A RESTAURANT (CAFE, DINER)

Restaurant restorań é»ëïáñ³Ý

Cafe srjarań/kafe´ ëñ×³ñ³Ý (Ï³ý»)

Diner jasharań ×³ß³ñ³Ý

Can I have the menu khndrou´m em ÊÝ¹ñáõÙ »Ù ×³-in Russian jashatsoutsa´keh ß³óáõó³ÏÁ éáõ-(English, German) roussereń (anglereń, ë»ñ»Ý (³Ý·É»ñ»Ý,

germanereń) ·»ñÙ³Ý»ñ»Ý)

Glass bazha´k µ³Å³Ï

Plate apse´h ³÷ë»

Fork pataraka´gh å³ï³é³ù³Õ

Knife dana´k ¹³Ý³Ï

Spoon gdal ·¹³É

Cold appetizers, please khndrou´m em sa´reh ÊÝ¹ñáõÙ »Ù ë³éÁkhortikne´r ËáñïÇÏÝ»ñ

Salad, please khndrou´m em sala´t ÊÝ¹ñáõÙ »Ù(aghtsań) ë³É³Ã (³Õó³Ý)

Butter kara´g Ï³ñ³·

Honey meghr Ù»Õñ

Cheese pani´r å³ÝÇñ

Sausage yershi´k »ñßÇÏ

Frankfurter nrbershi´k Ýñµ»ñßÇÏ

Greens kanachi´ Ï³Ý³ãÇ

Bouillon argana´k (bulyoń) ³ñ·³Ý³Ï (µáõÉÛáÝ)

Soup apou´r (soup) ëáõå (³åáõñ)

Beef tavari´ mis ï³í³ñÇ ÙÇë

Pork khozi´ mis Ëá½Ç ÙÇë

Mutton vochkhari´ mis áãË³ñÇ ÙÇë

Chicken havi´ mis Ñ³íÇ ÙÇë


196

Fish dzouk ÓáõÏ

Sturgeon tarapi´ mis ï³é³÷Ç ÙÇë

Water jour çáõñ

Bread hats Ñ³ó

Salt/salty agh/aghi´ ³Õ/³ÕÇ

Egg dzou Óáõ

Omelette dzvatse´gh Óí³Í»Õ

Mustard manane´kh Ù³Ý³Ý»Ë

Vinegar katsa´kh ù³ó³Ë

Fried tapaka´ts ï³å³Ï³Í

Stewed khasha´ts Ë³ß³Í

Vegetables banjaregheń µ³Ýç³ñ»Õ»Ý

Fruit mirg ÙÇñ·

Ice cream paghpagha´k å³Õå³Õ³Ï

Sweets kaghtsraveni´k ù³Õóñ³í»ÝÇù

Coffee (eastern, instant) sourj (arevelyań, ëáõñ× (³ñ¨»ÉÛ³Ý,loutsvo´gh) ÉáõÍíáÕ)

Tea tey Ã»Û

Milk kat Ï³Ã

Mineral water hankayiń jour Ñ³Ýù³ÛÇÝ çáõñ

Juice hyoot ÑÛáõÃ

Wine ghini´ ·ÇÝÇ

Table wine seghani´ ghini´ ë»Õ³ÝÇ ·ÇÝÇ

Dry chor ãáñ

Medium (wine) kissacho´r ÏÇë³ãáñ

Sweet kaghtsr ù³Õóñ

Vodka oghi´ ûÕÇ

Brandy (cognac) breńdi (konya´k) µñ»Ý¹Ç (ÏáÝÛ³Ï)

Beer garejou´r ·³ñ»çáõñ

Cheers kena´tsed Ï»Ý³ó¹

To your health dzer kena´tseh Ò»ñ Ï»Ý³óÁ

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197

SEASONINGS, SPICES, GROATS, PLANTS, GREENS,VEGETABLES, FRUIT � WITH THEIR ARMENIAN NAMES AND

TRANSLITERATIONS

Anise anisoń ³ÝÇëáÝ

Cardamom hil ÑÇÉ

Saffron krkoum/zafrań ùñùáõÙ/ß³ýñ³Ý

Cinnamon darchiń ¹³ñãÇÝ

Ginger kojapghpe´gh Ïá×³åÕå»Õ

Basil rehań é»Ñ³Ý

Celery nekhou´r/karaou´z Ý»Ëáõñ/ù³ñ³áõ½

Coriander hame´m/gindz Ñ³Ù»Ù/·ÇÝÓ

Tarragon tarkhouń Ã³ñËáõÝ

Dill sami´t ë³ÙÇÃ

Eremurus shresh ßñ»ß

Thyme ourts áõñó

Leek pras åñ³ë

Savory tsotriń/tsoto´r ÍáÃñÇÝ/ÍáÃáñ

Portulaca dandou´r ¹³Ý¹áõé

Mallow pipe´rt ÷Ç÷»ñÃ

Parsley maghdano´s Ù³Õ³¹³Ýáë

Cress kote´m Ïáï»Ù

Mint daghts ¹³ÕÓ

Falcaria sibe´kh ëÇµ»Ë

Beans lobi´ ÉáµÇ

Pumpkin ddoum ¹¹áõÙ

Cabbage kagha´mb Ï³Õ³Ùµ

Cucumber varouńg í³ñáõÝ·

Tomato loli´k/pamido´r ÉáÉÇÏ/åáÙÇ¹áñ


198

Eggplant smbouk/badrija´n ëÙµáõÏ/µ³¹ñÇç³Ý

Carrot gaza´r ·³½³ñ

Radish boghk µáÕÏ

Beet jaknde´gh/bazou´k ×³ÏÝ¹»Õ/µ³½áõÏ

Mushroom sounk ëáõÝÏ

Spinach spana´kh ëå³Ý³Ë

Sorrel trtnjouk ÃñÃÝçáõÏ

Marshmallow moloshava´rd ÙáÉáß³í³ñ¹

Goosefoot telouk/sagakho´t Ã»ÉáõÏ/ë³·³Ëáï

Asparagus tsnebe´k ÍÝ»µ»Ï

Horse-fennel bokhi µáËÇ

Garlic skhtor ëËïáñ

Onion sokh ëáË

Caraway chaman ã³Ù³Ý

Ramson ghandzi´l Õ³ÝÓÇÉ

Marjoram khnkatsaghi´k ËÝÏ³Í³ÕÇÏ/sousamba´r ëáõë³Ùµ³ñ

Okra bamia´ µ³ÙÇë

Wheat tsore´n óáñ»Ý

Barley gari´ ·³ñÇ

Pea sise´r ëÇë»Õ

Lentil vosp áëå

Olive dzitaptoukh ÓÇÃ³åïáõÕ

Pepper takde´gh/pkghpekh ï³ù¹»Õ/åÕå»Õ

Clove mekha´k Ù»Ë³Ï

Rose vard í³ñ¹

Almond noush Ýáõß

Walnut enkooy´z ÁÝÏáõÛ½

Filbert pndouk åÝ¹áõÏ

Apple khndzor ËÝÓáñ

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199

Pear tandz ï³ÝÓ

Grape khagho´gh Ë³ÕáÕ

Apricot tsirań ÍÇñ³Ý

Water melon dzmerou´k ç»ñÙáõÏ

Cantaloupe sekh ë»Ë

Peach dekhdz ¹»ÕÓ

Quince serkevi´l ë»ñÏ¨ÇÉ

Cherry kera´s Ï»é³ë

Sour cherry bal µ³É

Dewberry mosh Ùáß

Currant hagha´rj Ñ³Õ³ñç

Raspberry aznvamori´ ³½Ýí³ÙáñÇ

Strawberry yela´k/getnamori´ »É³Ï/·»ïÝ³ÙáñÇ

Fig touz Ãáõ½

Pomegranate nour Ýáõé

Mulberry tout ÃáõÃ

Plum/cherry plum salo´r/shlor ë³Éáñ/ßÉáñ

Greengage dambou´l ¹³ÙµáõÉ

Rosehip massou´r Ù³ëáõñ

Medlar zker ½Ï»é

Dried apricot tsiranachi´r ÍÇñ³Ý³ãÇñ

Dried greengage dambouli´ chi´r ¹³ÙµáõÉÇ ãÇñ

Orange narińj Ý³ñÇÝç

Tangerine mandariń Ù³Ý¹³ñÇÝ

Banana adamatou´z/banań ³¹³Ù³Ãáõ½/µ³Ý³Ý

Lemon kitroń/limoń ÏÇïñáÝ/ÉÇÙáÝ


200

MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCE

ADDRESSES AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS OF GOVERNMENTALAGENCIES AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

address telephone facsimile

The staff of the President 26 Marshal 520656 521581of the Republic Baghramian Ave. 522330

The staff of the National 19 Marshal 520360 527450Assembly Baghramian Ave. 527450

The staff of the Prime Republic Square, 520201 529443Minister 1 Government House 520680

Ministries

Agriculture 48 Nalbandian street 524641 523793AT&T151583

On Coordination of Republic Square, 520321 AT&Toperation of production 1 Government House 151036infrastructure

Culture, youth issues 5 Toumanian street 521920 523922and sport 529349

the Chief of staff of Republic Square, 520360 AT&TGovernment-Minister 1 Government House 151036

Defence Ashtarak highway 345656 151433285321

Economics 1 Melik-Adamian street 527082 AT&T1 Government House 151154

Education and science 12 Movses 526602 525317Khorenatsi street 524749 526996

Energy Republic Square, 526556 5263652 Government House 521964 151089

Environmental protection 35 Moskovian street 530741 538613534902

Finance 1 Melik-Adamian street 595255 5287421 Government House

Foreign affairs Republic Square, 523531 5072502 Government House 521796

151042

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201

Health 6 Toumanian street 582413 562923151097

Industry and trade 5 Hanrapetoutyan street 538082 526577538321151583

Internal affairs 130 Nalbandian street 574543 587125

Justice 8 Khorhrdarani street 582157 582449

National security 104 Nalbandian street 563515 525891

Operational issues Republic Square, 521706 AT&T1 Government House 151036

Post and telecommunications 20 Nalbandian street 526632 524756151446

Privatisation Republic Square, 520351 1510352 Government House 529443

Public revenue Republic Square, 539195 5382261 Government House

Social security 69 Terian street 565321 151920565383

Statistics, state registry Republic Square, 524213 521921and analysis 3 Government House

Territorial governance Republic Square, 525274 1510361 Government House 529443

Transport 10 Zakiyan street 563391 560528

Urban development Republic Square, 589080 5232003 Government House

CREATIVE ASSOCIATIONS

Writers 3 Marshal Baghramian avenue 563812Artists 16 Khachatour Abovian street 564724Composers 25 Demirjian street 526347Architects 17 Marshal Baghramian avenue 561506Journalists 3a Poushkin street 564757Cinematographers 18 Vardanants street 570717House of Film 18 Vardanants street 570092Theatre professionals 13 Mesrob Mashtots avenue 538490House of Actors


202

LIBRARIES

National 72 Terian street 584259Municipal 2 Amirian street 561566Children�s 42/1 Terian street 521222Musical literature 53 Tigran Metsi street 565304National Academy of Science 24 Marshal Baghramian avenue 587589Medical Science 8 Hovhannes Toumanian street 580344Theatre professionals 13 Mesrob Mashtots avenue 238771

YEREVAN CHURCHES

Sourb (Saint) Sarkis 21 Raphael Israelian streetSourb Hovhannes 2nd Street, #9, KondSourb Anania (Zoravor) 96 Ghazar Parpetsi streetKatoghike 15 Abovian streetSourb Gevorg 1st Noragavit streetSourb Astvatsatsin (Mother of God) NorkSourb Astvatsatsin (Mother of God) 32/2 Sebastiayi streetSourb Hakob 20/1, 6th Kanaker streetRussian Orthodox Kanaker

SPORTS FACILITIES

�Hrazdan� stadium Hrazdan river canyon�Dynamo� stadium 65 Vardanants street�Nairi� stadium 2 Bagratounyats street�Hayastan� stadium 64 Sebastiayi streetChess House 50 Khanjian street�Dynamo� swimming pool 72a Charnets streetIntramural swimming pool 40 Komitas streetIntramural swimming pool 7 Khorenatsi street�Dynamo� sports palace 69 Vardanants street�Arax� sports arena 9 Manandian streetSports and concert complex �Tsitsernakaberd� parkTennis courts Alex Manookian street and

�Tsitsernakaberd� park

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203

FARMERS� MARKETS

Number 1 5 Mesrob Mashtots avenueNumber 2 35 Khorenatsi streetNumber 3 17 Nzdehi streetNumber 4 64 Sebastiayi streetNumber 5 53 Komitas streetNumber 6 29 A. Karapetian streetNumber 7 14 Gayi streetNumber 8 85 Tsereteli streetNumber 9 19 Erebouni streetNumber 10 51 Parouyr Sevak streetNumber 11 Avan-Arinj district

EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS

Fire protection 1-01Police 1-02Ambulance 1-03Elevator breakdown service 1-85Telephone repair Exchange prefix +1212Long distance service:

Operator assisted calls 1-07Overseas operator assisted calls 1-05Complaints on service 1-06

City hall of Yerevan (reference, complaints) 526356

CITY INFORMATION

Yerevan Telephone network information 1-09 for incoming overseas calls 538752

Railway reference 1-84Subway 271800�Zvartnots� airport reference 1-87, 505640,

phone/fax AT&T 151123�Erebouni� airport reference 480351Central ticket office (airlines) 530662International ticket office (airlines) 582422, 531770Bus terminals reference:

Central 565370Northern 282471, 280666, 621670By the railway station 450570

Yerevan street address information 536970


ARMENIA

A COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLEGuidebook

Technical editor: A. ManoucharianPhotography: K. Azizian, A. Petrossian, Z. SarkissianProofreader: Artashes Emin

Colour separation and typesetting�ENCYCLOPAEDIA-ARMENIKA� Ltd

17 Toumanian Street, Yerevan

armenia a country and its people

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