Geographical location

he capital Yerevan is often likened to an ancient Roman theatre. And indeed the central part of the city, at the very beginning of the Ararat valley, is very like the stage of a theatre. This low part of the city stands at an altitude of 900 m above sea level. If the centre of the city is the stage of the theatre then, the four elevations - Arabkir, Kanaker, Nork plateaus and Kondsk Ridgier its amphitheatre and loges. From Victory Park, on the Kanaker plateau in the lower "tier" of the amphitheatre, guests of the Armenian capital can enjoy a thrilling view of the city’s panorama, crowned in the south by the twin peaks of Mt. Ararat. The first two of the above mentioned elevations, which have become part of the city in the last 25-30 years, stand at an altitude of 1,200-1,350 m above sea level.

A rather deep canyon (100-150 m) intersects the territory of the city, along the bottom of which flows the Razdan river, which has its source in Lake Sevan and flows into the Araks River. The gorge formed by this river with its picturesque slopes has been transformed into a recreation zone. Another small river, the Gedar, which used to cause much trouble in the past, cuts through the Avansk plateau. Now encased in concrete and stone, the Gedar is an attractive feature of Yerevan's urban landscape.

The geographical location of the Armenian capital is the determining factor in its climate. The sky above Yerevan is a cloudless blue almost the year round, with the sun shining 290-300 days a year.

Yerevan is one of the "driest" cities in the region. Most of the rain that the city gets falls in the spring months of April and May.

The natural vegetation of Yerevan is rather sparse. Nevertheless the Armenian capital is often called a garden city. Thanks to the extensive work carried out in planting trees and shrubs green is now one of the leading colours in the city's urban array. Yerevan is particularly attractive in the spring when almond, maple, apricot, cherry, pear, and apple trees are in blossom and the birdcherry trees put out their' green leaves. It is equally attractive when the trees are in golden and russet hues of autumn.

The history of the City

rgishti, son of Menua, built this splendid fortress in honour of the great God Khalda and named it Erebuni, to the glory of the country of Biaina - These words, inscribed on a stone tablet, tell the story of the founding of Yerevan, which in 1968 celebrated its 2750th anniversary. Evidently, Yerevan owes its present name to this ancient fortress, the ruins of which still stand in the southeastern part of the city. As yet historians have no exact data concerning the name of the city. There are a number of scientific hypotheses and even more legends on this subject.

The history of cities is closely bound up with the history of their respective people. This holds true of Yerevan. In the course of its centuries-old existence Yerevan witnessed periods of flourishing and decline but life in the city never died out. Throughout the course of Armenian history the Ararat valley was always the centre of the formation and development of the nation. For this reason, though Yerevan was not the capital of ancient or medieval Armenia, it nevertheless played an important role in the political and economic life of the country and was a point of major military significance.

Fully sharing in the destiny of the country, Yerevan was the apple of discord between ancient Rome and the Parthians, the Byzantines and the Persians, the Arabs and the Mongolians, and once again, between the Persians and the Turks. Devastation and destruction, the deaths of tens of thousands of people, and the driving of those who survived into slavery accompanied all these incursions.

With the annexation of Eastern Armenia by Christian Russia in 1828 after the Russian-Persian war, the situation changed for the better. In the years following - Yerevan remained a remote provincial town of the Russian Empire, with narrow, crooked streets, adobe huts, and only here and there grew two or three storey buildings.

In 1915 the Armenian people suffered a terrible tragedy. Whilst Europe's attention was fully engaged by the First World War, a horrendous program for the destruction of the local population was put into effect in Western (Turkish) Armenia and the same fate awaited Eastern Armenia. Victory in the battle of Sardarapat, near Yerevan, in 1918 saved the last plot of Armenian land from destruction. 

The defeat of the Ottoman Turks in World War I and the disintegration of the Russian Empire gave the Armenians a chance to declare their independence. On May 28, 1918, the independent Republic of Armenia was established, after the Armenians forced the Turkish troops to withdraw in the battles of Sardarapat, Karakilisse and Bashabaran. Overwhelming difficulties confronted the infant republic, but amid these conditions the Armenians devoted all their energies to the pressing task of reconstructing their country. But due to pressure exerted simultaneously by the Turks and Communists, the republic collapsed in 1920. Finally, the Soviet Red Army moved into the territory (Eastern Armenia) and on November 29, 1920 declared it a Soviet republic.