Famous Landmarks in Yerevan
Central Yerevan was rebuilt to one architect's plan, faced in pink and yellow tuff.
Yerevan's most recognisable landmarks date almost entirely from the twentieth century, after the city was replanned following Sovietisation. Alexander Tamanian, architect of the 1924 city plan, designed both Republic Square and the Opera Theatre, and his students carried the same vocabulary forward after his death in 1936. Republic Square's five surrounding buildings are faced in pink and yellow volcanic tuff, a neoclassical treatment layered with Armenian carved ornament, finished piecemeal between the 1950s and 1977. The Matenadaran, built in 1959 to a design by Mark Grigorian on a hill above the centre, breaks from Tamanian's ensemble to house a manuscript archive, its entrance marked by a single statue rather than a colonnade.
Republic Square
1924-1977 · Alexander Tamanian
Five government buildings in pink and yellow tuff, carrying matching neoclassical detailing and Armenian relief carving, ring an oval-to-trapezoid plaza whose lower half holds a fountain pool that performs to music.
The central square of Yerevan combines an oval roundabout with a trapezoid section holding a fountain pool. Alexander Tamanian designed it in 1924 as part of his plan for the city; the five surrounding buildings, including a government house, a history museum and a national gallery, were finished piecemeal through the 1950s, with the last completed in 1977, after Tamanian's death. Under Soviet rule it was called Lenin Square and held a statue of Lenin, removed after Armenia's independence; it later became the country's main site for demonstrations.
- Under Soviet rule the square was called Lenin Square and held a statue of Lenin, removed after independence.
- Twice a year, and originally three times, it hosted Soviet parades and celebrations until 1988.
- Its last building, the National Gallery, was completed in 1977, more than five decades after the square was designed.
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg (CC BY 4.0)
Yerevan Opera Theatre
1933 · Alexander Tamanian
Known locally simply as 'Opera', it houses two separate auditoria under one roof: a smaller hall seating about 1,070 for opera and ballet, and a larger hall seating around 1,300, named for a composer and added through later renovation.
The Alexander Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, designed by Alexander Tamanian, opened on 20 January 1933 with a performance of Spendiaryan's opera Almast; the building takes its name from that composer. It now holds two separate halls: the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall, seating about 1,300, and the original Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet National Theatre, seating around 1,070. Known locally simply as 'Opera', it serves as Yerevan's principal venue for opera, ballet and orchestral concerts after several renovations.
- It opened with a performance of Alexander Spendiaryan's opera Almast, the composer the building is named for.
- Locals refer to it simply as 'Opera'.
Photo: Matthias Süßen (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Matenadaran
1959 · Mark Grigorian
A statue of Mesrop Mashtots, inventor of the Armenian alphabet, stands at the entrance to this repository, which holds the largest collection of Armenian manuscripts in existence and combines archive, museum and research-institute functions.
Officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, the Matenadaran was established in 1959 from the nationalized manuscript collection of the Armenian Church, previously held at Etchmiadzin, and designed by Mark Grigorian. It combines the functions of a museum, an archive and a research institute, and holds the largest collection of Armenian manuscripts in existence. A statue of Mesrop Mashtots, inventor of the Armenian alphabet and the building's namesake, stands in front of it. Its collection is listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World register.
- Its collection is listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World register.
- The collection began with manuscripts nationalized from the Armenian Church's holdings at Etchmiadzin.
Photo: Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0)
History
Yerevan's site has been settled since the fortress of Erebuni was founded in 782 BC, but the city that stands today owes almost nothing to that antiquity. The medieval town was emptied by forced deportations in 1603-05 and levelled by an earthquake in 1679, then rebuilt at a smaller scale. Russian annexation in 1828 brought repatriation and a slow revival, but the decisive break came after 1918, when Yerevan became Armenia's capital and, under Soviet rule, was rebuilt to a single plan by the architect Alexander Tamanian from 1924 onward. Civic buildings in pink and yellow tuff went up through the 1930s and 1950s, and construction under his successors continued for decades after his death, producing the square, theatre and archive that now define the centre.