Yerevan

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Երեւան
Yerevan
Image:Yerevan Mount Ararat.jpg
Image:Yerevan flag.gif Image:Yerevan coa.gif
City flag City seal
Image:ArmeniaYerevan.png
Population 1,088,300 est.
Established 782 BC
Time zone GMT +4
Mayor Yervand Zakharyan
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Official website
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Yerevan (Armenian: Երեւան or Երևան; sometimes written as Erevan; former names include Erebuni and Erivan) (population: 1,088,300 (2004 estimate) [1]) is one of the provinces in Armenia and the largest city and capital of Armenia. It is situated on the Hrazdan River, at Template:Coor dm. Yerevan is over 2,780 years old, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.

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History

Image:YerevanAerial.jpg

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Early history

The territory of Yerevan was settled by humans since the 4th millennium BC, fortified settlements from the Bronze Age include Shengavit, Kamrir Blur, Karmir Berd and Berdadzor. Archaeological evidence indicates that an Urartian military fortress called Erebuni (Էրեբունի) was founded in 782 BC by the orders of King Argishtis I at the site of current-day Yerevan, to serve as a fort/citadel guarding against barbarian attacks from the north Caucasus, thus making it one of the oldest cities in the world. Irrigation canals and an artificial reservoir were built on the territory of Yerevan during the height of Urartian power. The fortress of Teishebaini (Karmir Blur) was destroyed by the Scythians in 585 BC. Between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, Yerevan was one of the main centers of the Armenian satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. The timespan between 4th century BC and 3rd century AD is known as the Yerevan Dark Ages due to absence of historical data. The first church in Yerevan, the church of St. Peter and Paul was built in the 5th century (collapsed in 1931).

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Foreign domination

Image:View, Yerevan, night.jpg During the height of the Arab invasions, Yerevan was taken in 658 AD. Since then the site has been strategically important as a crossroads for the caravan routes passing between Europe and India. It has been called Yerevan since at least the 7th century A.D. Between the 9th and 11th centuries Yerevan was a safe part of the Armenian Bagratuni Kingdom, before being overrun by Seljuks. Yerevan was seized and pillaged by Tamerlane in 1387. The city became an administrative center of the Ilkhanate. Due to its strategic significance, Yerevan was constantly fought over and passed back and forth between the dominion of Persia and the Ottomans for centuries. At the height of Turkish-Persian wars, the city changed hands 14 times bteween 1513 and 1735. Under the order of Shah Abbas I tens of thousands of Armenians, among them citizens of Yerevan, were deported to Persia in 1604. Jean Chardin, a French traveller, visited Yerevan and gave a description of the city in his Travels of Cavalier Chardin in Transcaucasia in 1672-1673. On June 7, 1679, a devastating earthquake razed the city to the ground.

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Russian liberation and control

Image:YerevanRusCOA.gif

Yerevan was liberated by Russian troops under Ivan Paskevich during the second Russian-Persian war on 1 October, 1827 and formally ceded by the Persians in 1828. The city started to grow economically and politically. Old buildings were torn down and new buildings of European style were erected. In 1829 Armenian repatriates from Persia were resettled in the city and a new quarter was buit. By the 1830's, Yerevan was an uezd. Emperor Nicholas I visited Yerevan in 1837. The first general plan of the city was made in 1854. Between 1850 and 1860, the female colleges of St. Hripsime and St. Gayane were opened and the English Garden was built. The first printing house of Zacharia Gevorkian was opened in 1874 and the first theatre was built in 1879 near the church of St. Peter and Paul. Yerevan was connected via a railway line to Alexandropol, Tiflis and Julfa in 1902, in the same year the first public library was opened. A telephone line with 80 subscribers was put into operation in 1913.

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Independence: 1917–1920

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On may 28, 1918, Yerevan became the capital of the independent First Republic of Armenia.

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Soviet Yerevan

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In 1920, Yerevan became the capital of the newly formed Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union.

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Post-USSR

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With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yerevan became the capital of the independent Republic of Armenia in 1991.

Image:YerevanTVTower.JPG Image:YerevanAnniversaryChurch.jpg Image:Erebuni.jpg Image:Erevan-David Sasunski.jpg Image:Armenia Matenadaran.jpg

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Culture

Yerevan is a leading industrial, cultural, and scientific centre in the Caucasus region. As a centre of Armenian culture, Yerevan is the site of Yerevan State University (1920), the Armenian Academy of Sciences, a historical museum, an opera house, a music conservatory and several technical institutes. The Matenadaran archives hold a rich collection of valuable ancient Armenian, Greek, Syrian, Hebrew, Roman and Persian manuscripts. Yerevan has several large public libraries, a number of museums and theaters, botanical gardens and zoos. It is also at the heart of an extensive rail network and is a major trading centre for agricultural products. In addition, industries in the city produce metals, machine tools, electrical equipment, chemicals, textiles and food products.

Two major tourist attractions are the ruins of an Urartu fortress and a Roman fortress. The Zvartnots Airport serves Yerevan. The Armenia Marriott Hotel is situated in the heart of the city at Republic Square (also known as Hraparak).

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Economy

Yerevan is Armenia's industrial, transportation, and cultural center. Manufactures include chemicals, primary metals, machinery, rubber products, plastics, textiles, and processed food. Not only is Yerevan the headquarters of major Armenian companies, but of international ones as well, as it's seen as an attractive outsourcing location for Western European and American multinationals. Yerevan is also the country's financial hub, home to the Armenian National Bank, the Armenian Stock Exchange, as well as some of the country's largest commercial banks.

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Development

Recently, Yerevan has been undergoing an ambitious redevelopment process in which old Soviet-style apartments and buildings are being demolished and replaced with modern buildings. However, this urban renewal plan has been met with opposition and criticismfrom some residents. Jermaine Jackson has planned to bulid a casino in the city.

Image:Downtownconstruction.JPG

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City districts

Yerevan is divided into several district communities, each designated with an elected community leader.

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Sister cities

Currently, Yerevan has 25 sister cities.

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Education

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Universities

Universities in Yerevan include:

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Notable people

Notable people who are from or have resided in Yerevan:

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Gallery

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Old Yerevan

Yerevan (1672):

Yerevan (1796): The small city had a mixture of both Christian and Muslim inhabitants, as seen by the churches and mosques in the picture

Yerevan's Russian Orthodox Church

Minaret of the Urban Mosque of Yerevan

The Gök-Jami, or "Blue Mosque," the largest mosque in Yerevan and the only one still preserved

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See also

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References

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External links

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