Yerevan

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Yerevan
Երևան
coat of arms
coat of arms
flag
flag
State : ArmeniaArmenia Armenia
Founded : approx. 782 BC Chr.
Coordinates : 40 ° 11 ′  N , 44 ° 31 ′  E Coordinates: 40 ° 11 ′  N , 44 ° 31 ′  E
Height : 989  m
Area : 227  km²
 
Residents : 1,077,600 (2018)
Population density : 4,747 inhabitants per km²
Time zone : UTC + 4
Telephone code : (+374) 10
Postal code : 0001-0099
 
Community type: Big city
Mayor : Hajk Marutjan ( civil contract ,
in the alliance IKD )
Website :
Yerevan (Armenia)
Yerevan
Yerevan

Yerevan , including Yerevan ( listen ? / I ) - IPA : jɛɾɛvɑn , Armenian Երեւան (officially, Eastern Armenian ) or Երեւան (traditional, Western Armenian ) - is the capital with 1,081,800 inhabitants (2019), the largest city of Armenia . Yerevan, one of the oldest cities in the world, is also the country's economic, cultural and scientific center and, due to the size of the city, a province of its own. Audio file / audio sample

history

Prehistory and Antiquity

Remains of the
Erebuni fortress

The area of ​​Yerevan has been around since the 4th millennium BC. Settled. Fortified settlements from the Bronze Age can be found in Schengawit , Zizernakaberd , Karmir Blur , Arin Berd , Karmir Berd and Berdadsor . The Urartian settlement of Erebuni has been around since 782 BC. Demonstrable. It was founded by King Argišti I to secure the newly conquered area in the Araxes Valley (province of 'Aza). The Urartians also built irrigation systems and reservoirs. Rusa II built Teišebai URU southwest of today's Yerevan on the hill Karmir Blur, Erebuni, the old capital was abandoned. 585 BC Teišebai URU was destroyed, perhaps by Scythians and Medes .

Between the 6th and 4th centuries BC Yerevan was one of the centers of satrapy Armenia in the Achaemenid Empire . The first church in Yerevan was the Peter and Paul Church , founded in the 5th or 6th century and destroyed in 1931 to make way for the Moscow Cinema .

Muslim rule

An illustration of Yerevan by Jean Chardin from 1673.

Yerevan was conquered by the Arabs in 658 . Since then, it has been strategically important as the intersection of caravan routes between India and Europe. Between the 9th and 11th centuries, Yerevan was part of the Armenian Bagratid Empire before it was occupied by the Seljuks . In 1387, Timur Lenk's troops conquered Yerevan.

Later, because of its strategic importance, Yerevan became a bone of contention between Persia and the Ottomans . At the height of these battles, Yerevan switched back and forth between the two kingdoms 14 times in 1513 and 1737. In 1604, hundreds of thousands of Armenians and thus residents of Yerevan were deported to Persia on the orders of the Persian Shah Abbas I. As a consequence, the Armenians later made up only 20% in the Yerevan Khanate , while 80% were sedentary or nomadic Muslims (Persians, Turks, Kurds ). The Armenians lived in Yerevan or the villages. They dominated various professions and trade in the region, so that they were economically important for the Persians. The Ottomans, Safavids, and Ilkhan had mints in Yerevan. In the 1670s the French traveler Jean Chardin visited the city.

The coat of arms of the Russian governorate of Yerevan .

On June 7, 1679, an earthquake destroyed the city. During the Safavids, Yerevan and the surrounding areas were part of the Chukhursaad Beglerbeg . Since 1747 it was part of the Yerevan Khanate, which was a Muslim principality under Persian rule. This remained so until General Count Ivan Fyodorowitsch Paskewitsch took the city for the Russian Empire on October 13, 1827 . With the peace of Turkmanchai it passed into Russian ownership.

Russian rule

Yerevan 1856

Yerevan was the seat of the newly founded Oblast Armenia and from 1850 of the Yerevan Governorate . Under Russian rule, the life of the Armenians was comparatively safe. The Russian government supported Armenian settlers from Turkey and Persia, so the population rose to 29,000 by the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, with 49% Azerbaijanis / Tatars, 48% Armenians and 2% Russians.

The economic and political importance of the city grew. Old houses have been replaced with new European-style buildings. In 1829 Armenian returnees from Persia were resettled in a new part of the city.

In 1854 the two women's colleges St. Hripsime and St. Gayane were opened and in 1874 Zacharia Gevorkian opened the first printing house. The city's first theater opened in 1879. At the beginning of the 20th century a railway line connected Yerevan with Alexandropol , Tbilisi and Julfa . At the same time the first public library was opened. In 1913 a telephone network with 80 subscribers went into operation. A great-nephew of Napoléon I named Louis Joseph Jérôme Napoléon was governor of Yerevan in the early 20th century.

First Republic of Armenia

View from Mount Nork on Yerevan with cathedral
With Mount Ararat

In 1917 the tsarist empire ended in the February Revolution . After the October Revolution in the same year and the outbreak of civil war in Russia , 'The Peoples of the Caucasus' declared themselves independent and founded the Transcaucasian Democratic-Federal Republic in early 1918 . But after only a month the Federal Republic collapsed and in May 1918 Yerevan became the capital of the Democratic Republic of Armenia , later known as the First Republic of Armenia .

During the invasion of Armenia by Turkey on November 29, 1920, the 11th Red Army occupied Yerevan. After supporters of independence recaptured the capital in February 1921, it was lost again on April 2, 1921.

Soviet Union

Yerevan became the capital of the Armenian SSR and went through a great development. Under the architect Alexander Tamanjan the cityscape was radically changed. Many historical buildings such as churches, mosques, the Persian fortress, baths, bazaars and caravanserais were demolished. Many city districts were named after the old Armenian hometowns of the Ottoman Empire. The districts of Arabkir, Malatia-Sebastia and Nork Marasch were named after the Turkish cities of Arapgir , Malatya , Sivas and Marasch . In the city there was a POW camp 115 for German prisoners of war of the Second World War . The prisoners of war were used in the construction of buildings and bridges.

On the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, anti-Soviet protests took place in Yerevan in 1965 , aimed at persuading the Soviet Union to recognize the genocide .

Yerevan played a key role in the Armenian national democratic movement. The reforms in the wake of glasnost and perestroika made it possible to discuss questions and topics such as the status of Nagorno-Karabakh , the environment, Russification , corruption, democracy and possible independence.

Renewed independence

Since 1991 Yerevan has been the capital of the again independent Armenia .

In 2018, the city's 2800th anniversary was celebrated.

politics

mayor

The first three mayors of Yerevan after independence from the USSR belonged to the Armenian All-National Movement , since May 1998 all mayors have belonged to the Republican Party of Armenia . Since October 13, 2018, Hajk Marutjan , who belongs to the civil contract party in the alliance of the Mein-Step Alliance (IKD), has been ruling the Armenian capital for the first time again.

geography

Yerevan is located 950 to 1300 meters above sea level on the banks of the Hrasdan , a tributary of the Arax , in a picturesque horseshoe-shaped basin, which is surrounded on three sides by mountains.

climate

Yerevan's climate is distinctly continental with a dry, hot summer and a relatively cold short winter . The mean temperature is 11.6 ° C and the amount of precipitation is low, around 277 millimeters per year.

Yerevan
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.
 
 
22nd
 
1
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-6
 
 
30th
 
11
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37
 
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44
 
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10
 
 
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29
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9
 
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8th
 
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27
 
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4th
-4
Temperature in ° Cprecipitation in mm
Source:
Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Yerevan
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 1 4th 11 19th 24 29 33 32 28 21st 12 4th O 18.2
Min. Temperature (° C) -8th -6 0 6th 10 14th 17th 17th 12 7th 1 -4 O 5.6
Precipitation ( mm ) 22nd 25th 30th 37 44 21st 9 8th 8th 27 23 23 Σ 277
Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 2.9 4.2 5.5 7.1 9.1 11.1 11.6 11.4 10.0 7.9 4.8 2.9 O 7.4
Rainy days ( d ) 9 9 8th 11 13 8th 5 3 4th 7th 7th 8th Σ 92
Humidity ( % ) 79 76 63 57 56 50 46 47 50 63 74 79 O 61.6
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Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
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  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source:

Time zone

The UTC + 04 time zone is used all year round , although the UTC + 03 time zone would better correspond to the local solar time. As a result, true noon (according to solar time ) does not occur until 1:16 pm on average. There is no change to daylight saving time .

structure

Yerevan consists of twelve districts or neighborhood communities ( Armenian թաղային համայնքները ), which in turn are divided into neighborhoods ( Armenian թաղամաս ). Some of the districts bear the names of today's Turkish cities such as Malatia - Sebastia or Arabkir . This can be explained by the fact that many Armenian refugees and immigrants from those cities moved to Yerevan. These refugees gave the districts the names of their old homeland. The districts in detail are:

The twelve districts of Yerevan
In the center of the city
District neighborhood Area ha 2016 Residents 2016
Adschapnjak
Աջափնյակ
Ajapnyak, Norashen, Nazarbekjan, Silikjan, Lukashin, Haghtanak, Wahakni 2582 109,200
Arabkir
Արաբկիր
Nor Arabkir, Ajgedsor 1329 115,400
Awan
Ավան
Awan, Awan Aresch 1 and 2 726 53,000
Dawtaschen
Դավթաշեն
Dawtaschen, Narek 647 42,500
Erebuni
Էրեբունի
Erebuni, Nor Aresch, Sari Tagh, Wardaschen, Muschawan, Werin Jraschen 4749 127,200
Kanaker-Sejtun
Քանաքեր-Զեյթուն
Kanaker, Nor Sejtun 773 74,000
Kentron
Կենտրոն
Pokr Kentron, Noragjugh, Nor Kilikia, Ajgestan, Tigran mes Kond 1335 125,600
Malatia-Sebastia
Մալաթիա-Սեբաստիա
Nor Malatia, Nor Sebastia, Sorawar Andranik, Schahumjan, Araratjan 2516 136,700
Nork-
marash Նորք-Մարաշ
Nork, Nor Marasch 476 11,800
Nor Nork
Նոր Նորք
Nor Nork 1411 131,000
Nuba
Ash Նուբարաշեն
Nuba ash 1724 9,800
Shengavit
Շենգավիթ
Nerkin Schengawit, Werin Schengawit, Koghb, Nerkin Tscharbach, Werin Tscharbach, Noragawit 4060 139,600

economy

Newly created district in Yerevan

Yerevan, at the beginning of the 20th century still a small town without a significant function in Tsarist Russia , has become the capital of Armenia, where, in addition to the development of industry, an upswing in education, research and national culture has been recorded. Within a few decades the population has increased almost thirteenfold.

In the city, companies in the electrical, chemical, metal, textile, mechanical engineering, light and food industries emerged, including the Yerevan Brandy Company , the Ararat liquor factory and the confectionery manufacturer Grand Candy . In 1952 the Yerevan Brewery was founded and has been producing Kilikia Beer ever since . The car manufacturer Yerewanski Avtomobilny Zavod ceased operations in 2004.

Yerevan is the center of the Armenian financial sector, all commercial banks, the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Stock Exchange are based here.

traffic

Central Station

Yerevan has become the main transport hub in the country with roads, railways , the Yerevan Metro and Yerevan Airport . The metro is complemented by the Yerevan trolleybus . The 2.1 km long so-called Yerevan Children's Railway runs in the gorge of the Hrasdan River . The second largest city of Gyumri can be reached by modern trains in two hours from the main station.

Yerevan "Zvartnots" International Airport is the most important airport in the Republic of Armenia and started operations in 1961. On December 17, 2001, the government of the Republic of Armenia signed a concession agreement with the Argentine Corporación América , which entrusted the management of Yerevan Airport to the operator Armenia International Airports (CJSC) for 30 years .

energy

The Yerevan thermal power station is located in the south of the city . Originally opened in 1961, a more modern plant was built in 2007, which was equipped with a new gas-steam mixing turbine. In March 2017, the construction of a new thermal power plant began with an initial investment of 258 million US dollars and a planned capacity of 250 megawatts. The power plant is scheduled to start operating in 2019.

The city's location on the banks of the Hrasdan River enables the generation of energy from hydropower. As part of the Sevan-Hrasdan Cascade , three hydropower plants have been built in the Yerevan administrative region: Kanaker , Yerevan-1 and Yerevan-3 . These were privatized in 2003 and were owned by the Russian operator RusHydro until 2019 , who then sold them to the Tashir Group of the Russian billionaire Samwel Karapetyan of Armenian descent .

education and Science

There are over 200 schools in the city, some of which have existed since the early 20th century. There are also around 162 kindergartens.

As a university city, Yerevan is the seat of numerous universities and colleges. These include the Yerevan State University , the National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia , the Armenian State University of Economics , the National Polytechnic University of Armenia , the Russian-Armenian University , the Yerevan State Medical University , the Yerevan V. Bryusov State University of Languages and social sciences , the Yerevan State Conservatory , the American University of Armenia , the Eurasia International University , the Armenian State Pedagogical University , the French University in Armenia, and several other universities and research institutes.

The Armenian National Academy of Sciences is headquartered in Yerevan. The Botanical Institute belonging to the Academy is located in the Botanical Garden of Yerevan .

Culture and sights

On the hill Arin-Berd are the remains of the Urartu fortress Erebuni , which King Argishti I built in 782 BC. Was built.

Of the medieval buildings, the cross- domed church Katogike made of tuff, built in the 13th century, and the Sorawar church with eight apses , built between 1691 and 1705, are of particular interest .

The Saint Sarkis Cathedral in the city center ( Kentron ), seat of the Armenian Apostolic Diocese of Ararat, dates from 1842 but was fundamentally redesigned in the 1970s.

Republic Square ( Hanrapetutyan Hraparak )

The Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator, built from 1997 to 2001 in the city center ( Kentron ), is currently the largest church of the Armenian Apostolic Church worldwide. The occasion was the 1700th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity as the state religion in Armenia, which was set at 301 AD. The construction of the church was made possible by support from the Armenian Diaspora . For the cladding of the building, apricot-colored Armenian ani- tuff was used , which was also used for the construction of the medieval Armenian capital Ani .

The Blue Mosque was completed in 1766 when Yerevan was part of Persia. During the Soviet era it housed the Yerevan City Museum, which moved to a new building in 1995. Since 1999 the building has served as a Shiite mosque again, mainly for migrants and tourists from Iran and other neighboring countries.

Cascade of stairs to the viewing platform

In the history museum , in the museum of folk art and in the picture gallery, which counts over 14,000 works, as well as in the many other museums of the city one gains an insight into the history , literature and art of the Armenian people .

Yerevan is also home to the famous repository and research facility for ancient manuscripts and miniatures from Armenia and other countries: Matenadaran , where around 13,000 unique Armenian manuscripts on parchment and paper, over 100,000 old archives and extensive collections of incunabula from various fields of knowledge are kept.

The national opera

The Zizernakaberd monument complex is located in the Armenian capital ; There are dark gray basalt pylons protectively erected around an eternal flame in memory of the around 1.5 million Armenians who were killed in 1915 and 1916 on the orders of the Young Turkish government of the Ottoman Empire . An obelisk split lengthways commemorates the division of the historical Armenian settlement area. An underground museum opened on the 80th anniversary of the Armenian genocide .

The “Golden Apricot” film festival has been held annually since 2004 . Most of the films are shown in the "Moscow" cinema, which was built in the 1930s.

The tallest building is the television tower , and the national allegory of Mother Armenia also stands out.

The Zoo of Yerevan is located in the east of the city on an area of 85,000 m 2 .

Town twinning

Yerevan distinguishes between twin cities and sister cities.

Sister cities of Yerevan

As of June 2018, Yerevan has partnerships with 31 twin cities. The first partnership agreement was concluded on June 9, 1974 in Podgorica in Montenegro , then Titograd in Yugoslavia, the last partnership agreement in October 2014 with Krasnodar , Khanty-Mansiysk and Qazvin .

Sister cities of Yerevan

Memorial plaque in Yerevan for an olive tree donated by the sister city of Amman.

As of June 2018, Yerevan has partnerships with 24 sister cities. The first partnership agreement was signed on September 12, 1973 with the Italian city of Carrara , the last on October 9, 2015 with Volgograd, Russia .

sons and daughters of the town

Numerous well-known personalities have been born in the city of Yerevan over the years. These include artists, musicians, writers, politicians, civil servants and athletes. They are listed in the list of Yerevan's sons and daughters chronologically according to the year of birth (see link).

panorama

Panorama of Yerevan with Mount Ararat in the background

See also

Web links

Commons : Yerevan  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Yerevan  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Yerevan  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wikivoyage: Yerevan  - Travel Guide

Individual evidence

  1. Paschinjan resigns , Novaya Gazeta, 16 October 2018
  2. Armenia: Regions and Cities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather, and Web Information. Retrieved June 15, 2018 .
  3. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica : Views of Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc, 2012. p. 43
  4. ^ Brady Kiesling: Rediscovering Armenia Guidebook - Yerevan
  5. Г. А. Меликишвили: Урартские клинообразные надписи. Издательство АН СССР, Moscow 1960, No. 138.
  6. a b Int'l Business Publications (Ed.): Armenia Country Study Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments . 2013, ISBN 978-1-4387-7382-7 , pp. 47 ( [1] ).
  7. Erich Kettenhofen, George A. Bournoutian and Robert H. Hewsen: EREVAN . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references)
  8. Yerevan . In: Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона - Enziklopeditscheski slowar Brokgausa i Jefrona . tape 41 [81]: Эрдан – Яйценошение. Brockhaus-Efron, Saint Petersburg 1904, p. 14–16 (Russian, full text [ Wikisource ] PDF ).
  9. ^ [Encyclopædia Universalis France SA, "Erevan", 1995.]
  10. La Famille impériale ( Memento of March 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  11. Maschke, Erich (ed.): On the history of the German prisoners of war of the Second World War. Verlag Ernst and Werner Gieseking, Bielefeld 1962–1977.
  12. ^ Ronald Grigor Suny: The Revenge of the Past: Nationalism, Revolution, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union , Stanford University Press 1993, ISBN 0-8047-2247-1
  13. ^ World Meteorological Organization
  14. wetterkontor.de
  15. Current time in Yerevan, Armenia. What time is it in Yerevan now? Retrieved February 14, 2020 .
  16. ^ Yerevan - RA Capital. District communites , as of March 2017 (PDF, 211 kB; Armenian / English)
  17. ^ Beer of Yerevan, CJSC
  18. aia-zvartnots.aero ( accessed April 15, 2019)
  19. web.archive.org ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  20. president.am (accessed April 15, 2019)
  21. mek.am ( accessed April 15, 2019)
  22. Tashir Group acquires International Energy Company. Retrieved February 14, 2020 .
  23. yerevan.am ( accessed February 24, 2019)
  24. yerevan.am ( accessed February 24, 2019)
  25. St. Gregory the Illuminator church , yerevan.am - official website of the city of Yerevan (English)
  26. On the website of the city of Yerevan 31 twin cities are mentioned, but only 29 are listed.
  27. ^ In the introductory text of the town twinning page of the city of Yerevan the year 1978 is stated, in the text on the twinning with Podgorica it is correct 1974.
  28. Yerevan's twin cities on the Yerevan city website.
  29. Yerevan's sister cities on the website of the city of Yerevan.