Accession of Armenia to the USSR. Soviet Armenia

After the collapse of the USSR, there was no hot water and heating in Armenia, electricity was provided one hour a day, bread was received on ration cards. People heated their houses with everything they could. Someone even burned clothes and shoes in potbelly stoves. The head of the Antares media holding, Armen Martirosyan, was lucky in this sense. The director of the jewelry factory where he worked rewarded him for good performance: he allowed me to take home old accounting archives.

“To heat one room in the apartment, it was necessary to burn 35–40 kg of paper a day,” he says. - I took two piles and went to the trolleybus stop. At that time, transport was rare. Trolleybuses, due to the large number of passengers, traveled with open doors. In order not to cause inconvenience to others, I usually hung with papers on the ladder behind the trolley bus. I remember this moment like now. It was the moment of truth. Winter. I hold on to the iron ladder with one hand, papers in the other hand. At that moment, it was all the same - to open one hand or the other, fall off a trolley bus and die or drop a pile of papers ... The fate of the country has led you to such a dead end that warming the house has become tantamount to survival.

Republic Square, Yerevan, 2016.

25 years have passed since the collapse of the USSR. During this time, Armenia survived darkness, cold, the Karabakh war ... The echoes of the 1988 earthquake still make themselves felt to this day - many people who have lost their homes live in makeshift barracks. High unemployment and mass labor migration to Russia, closed borders with neighboring Turkey and Azerbaijan… It seems that what else needs to happen for people to lose faith in a brighter future? But the country is developing in spite of everything.

On December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union officially collapsed and 15 republics gained independence. In the "" project, the TUT.BY portal will show the special path of each of the countries and tell how people live in the once native abroad.

Border guards check if there is an Azerbaijani stamp in the passport

A direct flight from Minsk to Yerevan was canceled this year. There are several ways to get to Yerevan. One of them is by car from Tbilisi. Distance - 276 km. For some Armenians, this is a kind of side job. A man in his car arrives in Tbilisi in the morning, at the exit from the city, from where minibuses usually leave for Yerevan, waiting for passengers. A ride for one costs just over $15. Almost the same price if you go by minibus.

Let's use this method. Our driver almost does not speak Russian, he does not know English either. But we find a common language and after a few minutes we are already listening to Armenian songs about love in the car. To please the Belarusians, he makes the sound louder and sings along.

At the entrance to the Georgian-Armenian border, a local business has been established on the roadside - they sell Turkish and Georgian washing powder. The driver goes out to buy a package and explains that it is cheaper in Georgia than in Armenia, and the quality is good.

There are no queues at the border. Armenian border guards in khaki-like Soviet uniforms smile and check for Azerbaijani stamps in their passports. What will happen if they are, it is difficult to guess. But their curiosity can be explained by the conflict between the peoples, which did not end after the Karabakh war.

On the way to Yerevan, the weather changes depending on the terrain: it is cold in the mountains, warmer in the lowlands. But everywhere is equally windy. If you get into the sun, you will burn.

Unlike Georgia, the abundance of signs on shops and cafes in Russian and the cleanliness of the streets are striking. Near the road, locals sell greens. Our driver buys several armfuls of "fluffy". He cannot explain what it is, but he says that such fluffy grass is added to the salad, and it is harvested in the fields. Every now and then we see how both women and men do it. And they collect anything: more than 400 types of edible herbs grow in Armenia.

Lavash and flat cakes are baked in a roadside cafe. The soldiers are smoking on the porch, each with a machine gun. Our driver communicates with them, unexpectedly for us it turns out that they are his acquaintances, and he himself is a volunteer. He will bring us to Yerevan and go to the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, where hostilities again took place in April of this year.

Mount Ararat is found in urban graffiti.
A pair of men's shoes in the Yerevan market costs 15,000 drams (slightly over $31).
Almost all buildings in Yerevan are made of tufa. This is a pink stone of volcanic origin.
Monument "Mother Armenia" in Yerevan in honor of the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War.
Pedestrian boulevard in the center of Yerevan.

Yerevan itself is a typical South Caucasian city. There are mostly low-rise buildings, drinking fountains on the streets, the metro has ten stations and trains of only two cars run.

The pedestrian boulevard in the city center resembles the Moscow Arbat. Oddly enough, there are only a few cafes with national dishes in sight. You are more likely to be offered Caesar salad and grilled German sausages than dolma, lamajo with meat filling and shish kebab.

Globalization also comes here at its own pace: there are no McDonalds restaurants in the country. What can I say, cappuccino is not as popular here as strong black sweet Armenian coffee. But cakes and pies are sold at every step.

The first president of independent Armenia is now in opposition to the government

2 million 997 thousand people live in Armenia, while about 8-10 million more Armenians live in other countries. On this occasion, Armenians joke that their country is an office. But in recent years, Armenians began to return to their homeland. Since 2008, any ethnic Armenian has the right to obtain citizenship through a simplified procedure. Repatriates are given benefits for the transportation of personal property.

Vartan Marashlyan, co-founder and director of the Repat Armenia Foundation, returned to Yerevan from Moscow in 2010 after living there for nearly 30 years.

— There was a desire to live here. Since childhood, there was a craving: when I flew to Yerevan, these were the happiest days, and when I flew away, the most miserable, he says.

Now the fund helps Armenians to return, provides assistance in finding a job and in developing a business. Approximately 500 people visit them every year. For 3.5 years, the organization has employed more than 270 people from among the repatriates, another 70-80 business projects have started working or received support.

It seems that Vartan knows the secret of success, which can dramatically change the lives of Armenians:

“We survived for a very long time: we were divided by various empires, survived the genocide, after independence we went through a serious war. Now we need to move from the survival format to the development format.

Mount Ararat is such a valuable symbol for Armenians that everyone talks about it. And everyone we meet repeats the same thing:

— You wake up in the morning, you look at Ararat, and it is inaccessible. And this has been going on for 96 years.

Ararat passed from Armenia to Turkey under the Moscow and Kars treaties of 1920-1921. Armenians perceive this fact very painfully.

Armenia lived in the Soviet Union for 70 years. In August 1990, the Supreme Council adopted the "Declaration of Independence of Armenia". In March 1991, the republic refused to participate in a referendum on the preservation of the Union, and in September 1991, the majority of Armenians voted to secede from the USSR. Since that moment, there have been three presidents in Armenia: until 1998 - Levon Ter-Petrosyan, then until 2008 - Robert Kocharyan and now Serzh Sargsyan.

Levon Ter-Petrosyan stood at the origins of Armenia's independence. Now he is in opposition to the current government and, according to local journalists, rarely gives interviews. He also refused us, citing through his press secretary that he was busy.

There are not so many tourists in Yerevan due to the geopolitical issue. But they are. According to locals, guests come from Georgia, Iran, post-Soviet countries.

The border with Turkey is closed. The situation is tense because of the Armenian genocide in 1915-1923. Every year in April, Armenians commemorate this event with an evening procession with candles. The fact of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire is recognized by the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, such countries as France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Canada, the Vatican, Australia, Russia, Uruguay, and 44 of the 50 US states.

There are also no contacts with Azerbaijan due to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia also borders on Georgia and Iran. Minibuses go to Iran, to Tbilisi - once every two days a night train, taxis and minibuses.

The Armenians themselves rest inside the country, for example, on Lake Sevan, or travel to Georgia, to Batumi.

Around 21.00, the building of the railway station in Yerevan is already closed. We are met by a security guard and recommends to come tomorrow. You cannot buy train tickets online.

A guy is lying on a bench near the station building. He is a tourist from Bolivia. Travels the world. I wanted to leave today for Tbilisi, but the train will not arrive until tomorrow. At the ticket office, they wrote to him on a piece of paper what time the departure was and how much tickets cost in the reserved seat (10 thousand drams - a little more than $ 21) and compartment (14,500 drams - a little more than 30 dollars).

It is difficult for Christian Armenia to be surrounded by Muslim countries

Life in the Armenian village is different from the city. There, people are more engaged in agriculture, catching fish and crayfish, making homemade wine, getting married earlier and having children. According to the stories of locals, the majority of society condemns divorces in Armenia. In the city, they are treated more liberally, but it cannot be said that they are accepted everywhere.

Sevada Azizyan, 25 years old, lives in the village of Semenovka, 83 km from Yerevan and 8 km from Lake Sevan. He is a fourth-year student of the Faculty of Geography at the university and plans to return to his native village and open a cheese factory after graduation.

— I don’t like the city, I don’t like the noise, but the countryside is calm and clean. Here people have a lot of cows, I will open a factory and make cheese. My brother is working in Russia, but I don’t want to go there,” he says.

Sevada's mother works as a primary school teacher in a rural school. Salary - 60 thousand drams (slightly more than 126 dollars).

- Parents said that it was good in the Soviet Union: people could go on vacation in Sochi, to a sanatorium ... Now we have no money for vacation. But I still would not want to live under the Union and work for the state,” Sevada argues.

Thin Armenian lavash is also eaten with cheese and herbs, such as tarragon.
Armenians are very hospitable people. They gladly invite strangers to the table and treat them with walnut jam, dried fruits, homemade cheese.
Sevada Azizyan, 25, lives in the village of Semenovka near Lake Sevan and Yerevan. He is sure that young families should live in the same house with their parents so that grandparents can raise their children. Only in this way, in his opinion, can a child grow up as a real person.

Religion has a strong influence on people's lives. In Armenia, 94% of the population are Christians of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Today, in contrast to Soviet times, the government supports the church, exempts from taxes.

According to the priest of Noravank church Ter-Saaka, there is no difference between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian.

“The Armenian Church is not subordinate to anyone. This question has been standing since the 4th century. Either the Persians wanted to subdue, or the Greeks did not succeed. We have our own head, the Catholicos, he says. “I don’t know much about theology, and I like it. Those who talk a lot about it know nothing. I like to talk more about how churches are similar to each other. We have one mother - the church, and one father - the Lord God, one savior - Jesus. Dot. The rest for me is the physical education of the language, power, politics ... It depends on how someone interprets it.

Noravank Church was restored in 1999 with the money of an Armenian from Canada. Father Ter-Sahak has been serving here for 11 years.

He says that during the Soviet Union, the authorities treated the church negatively and tolerantly at the same time. Many churches were destroyed, closed, but in place of some they made warehouses for grain in order to save the temple. Children were baptized in secret. The church in Etchmiadzin (the seat of the throne of the Supreme Patriarch of the Catholicos of All Armenians) worked. But in the sermons there were statements against the cold war, wealth and imperialism.

Father Ter-Sahak notes that it is difficult for Christian Armenia to exist surrounded by Muslim Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran. But Armenians hope for the best.

“I have nothing against Islam and Buddhism. If someone has problems with another religion, then he misunderstands his religion, the priest is sure.

- And what did you understand not about religion, but about life?

- That she is beautiful ... and not very.

Most of the enterprises were privatized and closed

We are met at the Institute of Economics of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia by Doctor of Economics, Professor, Head of the Research Center "Alternative" Tatul Manaseryan. Knowing that we will talk about what is being produced in Armenia today, he demonstrates shoes.

“Here, I wear Armenian shoes, they are competitive,” the professor says proudly.

Tatul Manaseryan says that in the days of the USSR in Armenia, the production flagship was machine building, chemical and electronic industries, machine tool building, and space research was even carried out at the Computer Institute. Also in Armenia, as now, they made wine and cognac.

- At that time, the countries of the Soviet Union had an artificial dependence on each other. We produced a lot of unnecessary products,” he says.

After the collapse of the Union, the liberals who came to power carried out privatization. As a result, most of the purchased enterprises are now not working, and the mining industry has become the locomotive. There are no fully state-owned enterprises left in Armenia.

— The cognac factory was privatized by a Frenchman. There was a fear that he would force out local producers and try to push French rather than Armenian cognac in foreign markets. Now, as far as I know, Armenian cognac is exported mainly to post-Soviet countries,” he says.

One of the examples when a Soviet enterprise was modernized and it continues to produce goods is the Yerevan Kilikia Brewery. Its CEO Ashot Baghdasaryan came to the plant 35 years ago as a chief engineer and headed the enterprise back in the days of the Soviet Union.

“In Soviet times, although there was competition, there was not enough beer, so there were no special problems,” he recalls. - All permissions then had to be obtained and approved at the highest level, reaching the Central Committee of the party. The market conditions of the post-Soviet period opened up more opportunities, but it was a wild market when legal relations had not yet been formed.

In 1997, he and his partner privatized the plant: even then, part of the equipment was upgraded to German, the Kilikia brand was developed, and at the end of the year they made the first delivery to the United States. In 2005, the plant began to produce juices.

In Soviet times, 140 people worked here, now - 700. Today, the average salary at the enterprise is around $ 400. 20% of all products are exported, they are supplied to 12 countries. But the situation is overshadowed by closed borders.

- Turkish and Azerbaijani directions are closed. It is impossible to get from Georgia by rail to Russia. We are in a tight state and we are working with great difficulties. Your Belarusian kilometer in any direction is cheaper than ours,” he explains.

Last year, the company's net profit amounted to 400 thousand dollars. According to Ashot Baghdasaryan, such a plant in Russia or Belarus can earn at least five times more thanks to open borders.

How do experts see the Armenian economy in 25 years? According to economist Tatul Manaseryan, it can become the innovation center of the Eurasian Economic Union. Today, the IT sector is actively developing in the country, programmers are trained in universities, and there are not enough such specialists in the labor market. According to various estimates, the shortage of personnel reaches 750-3000 people. Salaries start at $1,000. If real borders with countries are partially closed, then virtual ones provide a lot of opportunities.

“It seems to me that Armenia should make better use of its intellectual potential, human resources, and the possibilities of agriculture,” he is sure.

Unemployment benefits were canceled in 2014

In one of the markets in Yerevan, sellers of men's shoes are playing chess. They complain that there are no buyers, for two days of trading not a single pair was sold.

“We have not seen the Union, but personally I want our country to be with the Americans, not with the Russians,” says Rafael, 23, and offers to join him in the game.

We refuse and move to the meat rows. Salesman Aganes Mkhitoryan, 68 years old, willingly offers beef and agrees to exchange a few words. Behind him stands another man, sharpening a knife and not taking his brown eyes off us.

- Now I have a pension of 35 thousand drams (about $ 75), and in winter I pay more than 100 thousand drams (about $ 210) just for heating the house. If I had enough money, would I be working now? he asks rhetorically. - But in the Soviet Union it was good: there was meat, and there was a salary. Received a salary - rested. Now there is no work, young people are leaving: some for Europe, some for Russia.

According to economist Tatul Manaseryan, unemployment in Armenia is a threat to economic security:

- They leave us, but they don’t come to us in such numbers. They go where they pay well. Builders go to Russia, where they start families and stay. And mostly young people or middle-aged people leave, and this negatively affects the demographic situation.

Artak Mangasaryan, the head of the Armenian State Employment Service agency, says that in the country in 2015, unemployment was more than 18%. These are real figures, taking into account hidden unemployment. Most of the unemployed are women aged 45-50. Until 2011, the unemployment rate reached 11-12%.

There are 63,500 vacancies open in the country today. The IT sector needs the most specialists. The average salary for the first quarter of 2016 was about $395.

Interestingly, unemployment benefits were canceled in 2014. Prior to this, the unemployed were paid $40 each for nine months.

Now, instead of benefits, they are offered to participate in 14 programs, which also provide funding.

“For example, if this is an agricultural program and a person works on his own land, he receives 4,000 drams every day (a little over $8) for 180 days. In 2015, we supported about 7,000 people in this way,” says Artak Mangasaryan.

They decided to abandon the allowance when it was calculated that only 6% of the unemployed found work during the period of payments. The government decided that it would be better to direct this money to programs after which people will have jobs.

“I am not a supporter of unemployment benefits,” says Mangasaryan. Better a small salary than an allowance. At the same time, we teach people how to work. Now this is our main principle.

In a city hit by an earthquake 27 years ago, people still live in barracks

In 1988, the Spitak earthquake occurred in Armenia. The strength of the shocks reached 9-10 points on a 12-point scale. 25 thousand people died, 514 thousand were left without a roof over their heads. The earthquake practically destroyed the city of Gyumri. Some of its residents still, that is, for 27 years, live in barracks.

Now there are about 85 thousand people in Gyumri, before the earthquake there were 240 thousand. After the collapse of the USSR, many factories closed. In recent years, people have been actively leaving the city. Many, according to Vahan Tumasyan, chairman of the Shirak Center, leave to work through Georgia to Turkey. They work in factories, gardeners, housekeepers. There is also a flow of emigration to Russia.

Robert Arakelyan 75 years old. The earthquake made him and his family homeless, losing their four-room apartment. She still lives in a temporary house with her son, daughter-in-law and three young grandchildren. They were in the queue for an apartment, but then for some reason they disappeared from the list.

- The government promised that in two years they would give a house. But the issue has not yet been resolved,” he says, lighting a cigarette in the kitchen of his barracks.

Robert is retired and receives about $75 a month in transfers. All my life I worked as a welder. His son is unemployed, but sometimes he repairs houses for money, his daughter-in-law is on maternity leave. Their combined monthly income, including pension and child support, is about $150.

The man shows the house, says that there are rats. A lot of them. And at night they are so noisy that they seem to be playing football.

There is no money to heat the house either. In order to have something to heat the stove, Robert cut down a white lilac in the yard.

“I want to die,” he says. And children and grandchildren need to live.

There are now about 12 thousand homeless people like Robert Arakelyan in Gyumri. But not all of them are in need, he believes. Vahan Tumasyan, chairman of the Shirak Center, which volunteers to help earthquake victims get new housing.

Gyumri has become a beggar's camp. Just poor people come here and live in such barracks,” he explains.

During the earthquake in Gyumri, 28,000 apartments were destroyed, and so many were built. But over the years the families have grown. And now other questions have arisen: people want to be given several apartments.

Volunteers of "Shirak Center" are looking for sponsors, including those abroad, who donate money to buy apartments for the victims of the earthquake. Housing is bought and donated to the homeless on the condition that they dismantle their barracks. Boards are chopped for firewood and given to other homeless people to heat their homes.

Destroyed house in Gyumri.
Central square in Gyumri.
Gayane Ajemyan, 55, lost her three-room apartment during the earthquake in Gyumri. Now she lives in a barracks with her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.
There are ruins in Gyumri where they sell old things.
This is how the block with barracks in Gyumri looks like.

Over the past three years, "Shirak Center" donated about 50 apartments. In Gyumri, a one-room apartment costs $8,000, a two-room apartment costs $12,000, and a three-room apartment costs $15,000.

- Why was the problem with housing for the homeless after the earthquake not solved immediately?

- The USSR collapsed, the Karabakh war was going on, and there was no experience. The Democrats didn’t see the situation a bit, and corruption got in the way,” says Vaan.

Today, he regrets that he did not start such volunteer work 20 years ago. If it started, there would be fewer homeless people.

- Why do you need this?

“I think about it every day and decide to do something else. I work 20 hours a day, at night I write reports for sponsors about the donations listed. But I can't quit. People trust me. So many apartments were donated during this time, but no one called for the New Year and congratulated. But, you know, I'm happy about it. I don't like it when you help people and make them dependent on you. I hate it when people are dependent and I don't want my son to depend on me. And I myself am independent, like our state.

Diaspora Armenians invest in youth and IT technologies

Armenia is a country of contrasts. This banal phrase is perfectly appropriate here. Seeing the social bottom in Gyumri, you will never believe that there is an absolutely unique center for creative technologies TUMO in Yerevan. Moreover, there are such centers in Gyumri, Dilijan and Stepanakert, the capital of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

In the centers, children from 12 to 18 years old are taught animation, web and game technologies, filmmaking or digital media absolutely free of charge. When you get here, it seems that the 22nd century has already begun in the yard. Everything is so tech and modern. The center was built with the money of an Armenian from the USA Sam Simonyan.

— Sam Simonyan had a dream — to invest in people and create a platform where any young person can choose an educational direction within their interests. We thought about what areas to develop so that it would be useful for Armenia. We are in a blockade, we have enemies on the right and left, and we decided that we must jump over all these borders. Thanks to the Internet - with its help it became possible, - explains Aram Ghumishyan, deputy director of the center.

The education system at the center is based on self-study and workshops. The program takes two years. Grades are not given here: students are oriented to the result, not points. Most often, Armenians from foreign diasporas work as trainers.

— Our director believed that we could attract the coolest specialists as volunteer trainers and they would teach for at least two weeks. We thought it was impossible, especially for people with a post-Soviet mentality. But in the first year of work, we brought 35 specialists, mostly from the USA. They were people from the diaspora. Then we brought 70 specialists, and this year already 120 people. We pay them only arrival and accommodation. But each of us is responsible for ensuring that the visiting coach has an interesting entertainment program for every day.

With the help of this experiment, the staff of the TUMO center discovered that it is cheaper, but more difficult, to bring a person from the Armenian diaspora to Russia than from the United States. This shows that people from the countries of the former USSR are less ready for social responsibility than people in the West. But over time, foreign coaches instill this culture in the Armenian youth who train at the center.

— We do not have a goal that all our graduates become animators or web designers. We want them to master rapidly developing technologies. These people will have their horizons open. Regardless of what they want to do next, they will be competitive.

The TUMO Center in Yerevan is located in a multi-storey building. It cost investors $45 million. On the upper floors, the premises are rented by IT companies. They pay the center, for this money they cover operating expenses.

An office in the building is also rented by the world-famous Armenian photo editing startup PicsArt. Today the company has two branches: one in Yerevan, the second in San Francisco.

We are returning with the publisher Armen Martirosyan to Yerevan. To the right are some water bodies. He says that they grow fish there and sell it to Russia. We talk about the Soviet lifestyle and involuntarily begin to discuss what is happening in neighboring Georgia.

- I call the Soviet disease cancer. So, Saakashvili cured Georgia of cancer, but infected with syphilis. Georgians criticize him for going too far. Businessmen said that the tax office was rampant in his time. If you adhered to other views, not pro-Saakashvili, then there could be problems. Armenia has not yet recovered from the Soviet disease.

In a roadside cafe, black strong sweet Armenian coffee is brewed for us. The cup is small. Such a tradition is to drink coffee from small cups. But it is quite enough to enjoy the view of the snowy Ararat, start the car and continue the journey.

Industry developed in Soviet Armenia, Armenian athletes became world stars, brands successfully competed in the world market, and “Armenian radio” could clarify any difficult issue…
"Ararat"
The most famous brand of Armenia today is the famous Armenian cognac. Its history began at the end of the 19th century, in 1900 Shustov's Fine Champagne Selected cognac was awarded the Grand Prix at the World Exhibition in Paris.
For the first time in the history of cognac production, a foreigner received the right to call his products not “brandy”, but “cognac” when delivering European goods. But it was not yet "Ararat", "Ararat" as a brand appeared already under the Soviet regime.


In 1920, Shustov's factory was nationalized and renamed the Ararat wine and brandy factory; in 1948, the trust was divided into two enterprises: the Yerevan Wine Factory and the Yerevan Brandy Factory. At the latter, the world-famous Armenian cognacs were bottled: ordinary and vintage cognacs (“Selected”, “Jubilee”, “Armenia”, “Dvin”, “Yerevan”, “Festive”, “Nairi” and “Akhtamar”).
It is known that one of the most dedicated connoisseurs of Armenian cognac was Winston Churchill. His secret to longevity was: "Never be late for dinner, smoke Havana cigars and drink Armenian cognac."
Architecture
If you look at the architecture of Yerevan, you can see that in Soviet times there was a real "field of experiments" for architects.

Although Yerevan is older than Rome (2797 years), little of its ancient architecture has been preserved, under Soviet rule it was almost completely rebuilt according to the general plan of 1924 (chief architect Alexander Tamanyan), and in 1970.
Tourists still note the special color scheme of the city today: most of the buildings in Yerevan were built using local tuff stone, which has different shades, from white to pink.
"Tamanyan architecture", sustained in the traditions of neoclassicism, coexists in Yerevan with bold modernist buildings. This whimsical eclecticism is still one of the “visiting cards” of the Armenian capital today.


During the years of Soviet power, new streets were laid in Yerevan, electrification was installed, water supply and sewerage were installed. Forest plantations on the surrounding hills did away with the dust storms that had plagued the city.
Visiting relatives
The metro in Yerevan appeared in 1981. The history of its discovery is connected with an interesting legend. The leadership of Armenia was not dissatisfied with the fact that Baku (1967) and Tbilisi (1966) already had a subway, and the inhabitants of the Armenian capital had to make do with surface trams.


1981 Metro opening. Shevardnadze and Aliyev visiting Demirchyan.
However, the metro was built only in million-plus cities, and Yerevan was not a million-plus city. Then the First Secretary of the Central Committee of Armenia, at a meeting with Leonid Brezhnev, spoke in the following way:
“The fact is that every Armenian, if he lives separately from his parents, must visit them daily. Consequently, the estimated passenger traffic in the future will be at least 1.5 times greater than those determined by the methods. In addition, the republic is developing at an accelerated pace, getting prettier, living in it is getting better, and foreign Armenians (who are several times more numerous than in Armenia itself) want to return to their historical homeland.”
As a result, the metro was built, but so far its passenger traffic is not so great, the trains include from two to six cars, and merchants rent space in the lobbies.
Although, it must be admitted, the red-speaking First Secretary was not mistaken that Yerevan would become a millionaire. Already in 1986, its population exceeded 1.1 million.
Sport
Armenians are a very athletic nation. During the years of Soviet power, Armenian athletes were included in the national teams of the USSR in many disciplines: weightlifting and athletics, sambo, boxing, shooting, fencing, table tennis, Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, artistic gymnastics...


Shavarsh Karapetyan
Shavarsh Karapetyan, 11-time world record holder, 17-time world champion, 13-time European champion, seven-time USSR champion in diving, became famous not only for his sports achievements, but also for the fact that he repeatedly saved people after disasters.
So, after the fall of a trolleybus with 76 passengers into Yerevan Lake on September 16, 1976, Shavarsh Karapetyan, together with his brother, managed to pull a lot of people out of the water, 20 of them survived. The athlete himself after that was seriously ill and spent 45 days in the hospital. This was not the only case when Shavarsh, risking his life, saved people.
Thundered throughout the Union from 1971 to 1976, the Yerevan football team "Ararat". In 1973 she took the USSR Cup, in 1975 she repeated this achievement, Armenian football players also took part in European competitions.


Tigran Petrosyan
The real star of Armenia in the Soviet period was grandmaster Tigran Petrosyan. A multiple champion of the USSR, playing in the national team at ten World Chess Olympiads, held from 1958 to 1978, he showed simply amazing results - 1 defeat, 50 draws and 79 wins.
In 1964 Arpad Elo released the first unofficial international ranking of grandmasters. It was headed by Tigran Petrosyan and Robert Fisher, each with 2690 rating points. After the official recognition of the Elo rating, Petrosyan was one of the six best chess players in the world in 1970-1972, 1974-1977, and also in 1980.
Armenian radio
Anyone who is at least somewhat interested in culture can immediately name the representatives of Soviet Armenia in various fields of art. Composers Aram Khachaturyan, Alexander Spendiarov, Arno Babadzhanyan, Avet Tertenyan, Mikhail Tariverdiev, actor Mher (Frunzik) Mkrtchyan, clown Leonid Yengibarov (Yengibaryan), ballerina Agrippina Vaganova…


Finally, I would like to say about such a phenomenon of Soviet Armenian culture as "Armenian Radio". Its origin is not known for certain, but "Armenian Radio" has become a real phenomenon in world humor. Here are just a few typical jokes about Armenian radio:
Armenian radio asks...
- Is it true that the chess player Petrosyan won a thousand rubles in the lottery?
- True, only not the chess player Petrosyan, but the Ararat footballer Hakobyan, and not a thousand, but ten thousand, and not rubles, but dollars, and not in the lottery, but in cards, and did not win, but lost.
- What is needed for Ararat to win the USSR Championship?
- Muntyan, Porkuyan and nine other people from Kiev.
- What is the most beautiful city in the world?
- Of course, Yerevan!
- What will happen if an atomic bomb falls on Yerevan?
- Baku is also a beautiful city.
Soviet Armenia in photographs

Armenian cognacs awarded with medals


At the receiving point of cotton


Products of Yerevan Compressor Plant are ready for shipment

Yerevan Factory of Reinforced Concrete Roofing




Yerevan wine factory "Ararat"



Electrolysis shop of Yerevan Aluminum Smelter

Bottling shop of Arzinsky mineral water plant




Cotton pest control






Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences A. Alikhanyan



At the Yerevan Eye Clinic

High-pressure pipeline of Gyumush HPP
Soviet Yerevan
Yerevan is considered one of the oldest cities in the world. The year of its foundation is considered the year of foundation of the Urartian city of Erebuni - 782 BC. e., located on the southern outskirts of modern Yerevan, although there is no evidence indicating the existence of a significant settlement at the location of the city in the period from the 4th century BC. e. to the 3rd century AD e.


The central square of the city, at that time was named after Lenin, 1975
However, very few traces remain of this antiquity. Despite the status of the capital of the province, pre-revolutionary Erivan retained the appearance of a poor provincial-eastern city, with one-two-story adobe houses, narrow crooked streets.


The palace of the Serdars and the fortress lay in ruins. Therefore, the capital of Soviet Armenia had to be built, as it were, from scratch, on a turnkey basis. Soviet urban planners had the opportunity to carefully consider the layout and images of architectural ensembles, but Yerevan is one of those cities where architecture is secondary, and geography and natural landscape are primary.


The main attraction and symbol of Yerevan is the majestic Ararat rising on the horizon, for which all urban development is just a background.


In the center of Yerevan, near the square. Lenin, 1975
The Stalinist style acquired in Yerevan, as in many other Soviet republics, a unique local flavor. And the city has its own special color... From the photographs, it always seemed to me that almost all buildings in Yerevan are designed in the same sandy-brownish palette.


Central Square in 1957


Fountains on the central square, 1975


Lenin Square in 1973
After the collapse of the USSR, Lenin Square was renamed Republic Square. According to Wikipedia, “the center of the architectural ensemble of the city is Republic Square (1924-1958).
The shape of the square is formed by 5 buildings: the building of the National Historical Museum of Armenia, the building of the Government of Armenia with the main clock of the country on the tower,
RA Post Central Building, Marriott Armenia Hotel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Energy building. In front of the building of the Museum of the History of Armenia, there are legendary “singing” fountains that change their color at the same time.” But that is in our day.


Opera and Ballet Theatre. A. A. Spendiarova (1926-39, architect A. I. Tamanyan; completed in 1953), 1951


Square-Spandaryan, 1971


Cinema "Moscow", 1960s or 1970s


Monument in honor of Stepan Shaumyan, 1971

Despite the seismic hazard, rather tall buildings appeared in Yerevan in Soviet times, for example, the post office.


Airport, 1986


Sports and entertainment complex, 1985


Monument to the architect A... Tamanyan
Tamanyan is the father of modern Yerevan. According to Wikipedia, under the Soviet regime, a large-scale reconstruction of Yerevan began, carried out since 1924 according to the project of A. O. Tamanyan, who developed a special national style using elements of traditional church architecture and tuff as a building material.




During this reconstruction, the city completely changed its appearance; almost all previously built buildings were destroyed (including the fortress, whose stone went to the lining of the embankment, the sardar palace, almost all churches and mosques).


New streets were laid, Yerevan was electrified, water supply and sewerage were installed. Forest plantations on the surrounding hills have put an end to the dust storms that plagued old Erivan.


Monument to Gayk Nahapet (the legendary progenitor of Armenians)… Sculptor K.Nurijanyan

Monument "Mother Armenia". Sculptor A. Harutyunyan




















Finally, another quote from Wikipedia:
“Today, Yerevan is significantly changing every day and is taking on the appearance of a modern European capital with national characteristics.
Construction in the city takes on a global scale, changing the city beyond recognition. A new Northern Avenue has been built, point and district modern development is being carried out throughout the city, many foreign embassies and consulates have been created in the city, Yerevan is gaining political and economic power, spreading its cultural, political and economic influence far beyond the borders of the Republic of Armenia.

In 1928, mass collectivization began in Armenia.

The Transcaucasian SFSR was abolished in 1936 and the Armenian SSR became directly part of the Soviet Union. The consequences of the social transformations carried out by the Soviet leadership were difficult for Armenia, as well as for most other republics of the Soviet Union. The Armenians were under strict control. There was practically no freedom of speech. During Stalin's rule, any citizen, be it a university professor of history or a collective farmer with an incomplete secondary education, suspected of using national rhetoric in his work and even everyday life, was subjected to repression as a traitor, nationalist, Dashnak, propagandist and enemy of the people.

In the 1930s - 1940s, the Armenian intelligentsia was subjected to large-scale repressions. At the same time, Soviet Armenia contributed to the victory in World War II by sending hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the front line to fight Nazism.

In the middle of the 20th century, the repatriation of Armenians to the Armenian SSR began. On June 7, 1945, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Molotov, put forward at a meeting with the Turkish ambassador in Moscow a demand for a revision of the Soviet-Turkish border. To substantiate these claims, immediately after the end of the conference in Yalta, the Soviet leadership, headed by Stalin, initiated an increase in the composition of the population of the Armenian SSR and began the resettlement of Armenians from abroad to the territory of Armenia. In 1945, the newly elected Armenian Catholicos Gevorg VI sent a letter to Stalin expressing support for Stalin's policy of repatriating diaspora Armenians to the Armenian SSR and returning Armenian lands in Turkey. This was part of a public campaign aimed at creating a humanitarian justification for territorial claims against Turkey, initiated by Stalin.

In 1953, after Stalin's death, the USSR Foreign Ministry declared that the peoples of Soviet Armenia and Georgia no longer have territorial claims against Turkey, but the resettlement of Armenians, carried out together with the territorial claims against Turkey, took place.

Post-war period. Karabakh conflict

Soviet rule also had several positive aspects. Armenia, weakened from being under foreign domination for many years, would not be able to maintain statehood, being surrounded by hostile Turkic neighbors; therefore, being part of the USSR contributed to the protection of Armenia from Kemalist Turkey. Armenia also benefited from the Soviet economy, especially when it was at the height of its rise. From an agrarian country, Armenia turned into an industrial one, infrastructure developed. Provincial villages gradually increased, turning into cities. Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been achieved, albeit temporarily. In 1943, the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR was founded on the basis of the Armenian branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

In the late 1980s, Armenia suffered from environmental pollution caused by the growth of the chemical and mining industries, which was not supported by appropriate environmental measures. After the introduction of glasnost and perestroika by Mikhail Gorbachev, public demonstrations became more common. Thousands of Armenians participated in demonstrations in Yerevan due to the inability of the USSR to take action to resolve simple environmental issues. Later, with the outbreak of the conflict in Karabakh, the demonstrations began to take on a more liberating tone. Many Armenians began to demand the status of statehood for their homeland.

In 1988, tens of thousands of people became victims of the Spitak earthquake. Cities such as Leninakan (now Gyumri) and Spitak were destroyed. Many families were left homeless. The difficult situation created by the earthquake and subsequent events forced many residents of Armenia to leave the country and settle in the countries of North America, Eastern Europe and Australia.

After the parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh, then an autonomous region within the Azerbaijan SSR, voted in favor of joining the region to Armenia (miatsum) on February 20, 1988, an inter-ethnic conflict broke out between the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Azerbaijanis.

Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union on August 23, 1990. Following the August Putsch, the question of secession was raised in a referendum. An emergency vote followed, and full independence was declared on September 21, 1991. However, full recognition did not occur until the formal collapse of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991.

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Small Armenia connects Europe with Asia. Once upon a time, Armenia was one of the largest states in the Middle East and Transcaucasia, which competed with the Parthian kingdom and Ancient Rome. Now Armenia is a modern country with hospitable people, ancient history, a huge number of historical monuments, rich culture, delicious food, beautiful nature. In addition, there are several ski and balneological resorts in Armenia.

Geography of Armenia

Armenia is located in the Transcaucasus. Armenia borders Turkey in the west, Azerbaijan and Karabakh in the east, Georgia in the north, and Iran in the south. The total area of ​​this country is 29,743 sq. km., and the total length of the state border is 1,254 km. Armenia has no access to the sea.

Armenia occupies part of the territory of the Armenian Highlands. We can safely say that Armenia is a mountainous country. The highest peak in Armenia is Mount Aragats, whose height reaches 4,095 meters. Previously, Mount Ararat belonged to Armenia, but now this peak is located in Turkey. The most beautiful mountains of Armenia are adjacent to numerous valleys. The largest of them is the Ararat valley.

There are more than 9 thousand rivers in Armenia, of course, most of them are small. But the largest river in Transcaucasia, the Araks, flows through the territory of Armenia.

Lake Svan is a 2-hour drive from Yerevan. This lake is the pride of every Armenian.

Capital

Since ancient times, the capital of Armenia has been Yerevan, which is now home to about 1.2 million people. Archaeologists claim that people lived on the territory of modern Yerevan already in the 8th century BC.

Official language of Armenia

The official language in Armenia is Armenian, belonging to the Indo-European language family.

Religion

Most of the population of Armenia are Orthodox Christians (they belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church).

State structure of Armenia

According to the current Constitution of 1995, Armenia is a parliamentary republic. Its head is the President, elected for 5 years.

In Armenia, the local unicameral Parliament is called the National Assembly (131 deputies). Deputies of the National Assembly are elected by popular vote for 5 years.

The main political parties in Armenia are the Republican Party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia, the Armenian National Congress, and the Land of Law.

Climate and weather

Almost the entire territory of Armenia is located in a continental, high-mountain climate. Only in the south of Armenia the climate is subtropical. In the mountains in summer the average air temperature ranges from +10C to +22C, and in winter - from +2C to -14C. On the plains in January, the average air temperature is -5C, and in July - +25C.

The amount of precipitation depends on the height of the location of one or sometimes the region of Armenia. On average, from 200 to 800 mm of precipitation falls annually in Armenia.

The best time to visit Armenia is from May to October.

Rivers and lakes of Armenia

More than 9 thousand rivers flow through the territory of Armenia. Most of them are small. The largest river in Armenia is the Araks, which is considered the largest in the entire Transcaucasus.

Relatively close to Yerevan, about 2 hours drive, is Lake Svan. Every Armenian is proud of this lake, almost as much as Mount Ararat, although it now belongs to Turkey.

History of Armenia

People on the territory of modern Armenia lived already in the Bronze Age. In the VIII-VI centuries BC. e. on the territory of modern Armenia there was a state of Urartu.

In the II century. BC e. several Armenian states were formed - Sophena, as well as Greater Armenia and Lesser Armenia.

In 301 BC Christianity became the state religion of Armenia. In the era of the early Middle Ages, Armenia was part of the Arab Caliphate.

In the 9th-11th centuries, several states existed on the territory of modern Armenia - the kingdom of Ani, the kingdom of Vaspurakan, the kingdom of Kars, the kingdom of Syunik, and the kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget.

In the XI-XVI centuries, Armenia was part of the empire of the Seljuk Turks, the Georgian kingdom, and the Oguz tribal union. In the XVI-XIX centuries the territory of Armenia was divided between Iran and the Ottoman Empire.

According to the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty of 1828, most of Armenia was included in the Russian Empire. Only in 1918 was the independent Republic of Armenia formed, which then became part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In 1922, Armenia became part of the USSR.

In the late 1980s, sentiments about secession from the USSR became strong in Armenia. As a result, in September 1991, Armenia declared its independence.

In 1992, Armenia became a member of the UN.

culture

Armenia only in 1991 became an independent country. Prior to that, for many centuries it was part of the USSR, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Iran, the Georgian kingdom, and the empire of the Seljuk Turks. All these states tried to “blur” the Armenian culture, to impose their cultural traditions on the inhabitants of Armenia. However, despite this, the Armenians managed to preserve their identity, their customs and traditions.

Every winter, Armenians celebrate the holiday of lovers Trndez. On this day Armenians need to jump over the fire to be happy.

Another interesting Armenian festival is the summer “water festival” Vardavar. On this day, Armenians splash water on each other, it is believed that in this way girls and boys attract each other's attention (that is, this is the holiday of lovers). The origins of the Vardavar holiday go back to the times when Armenia was not a Christian country.

Kitchen

Armenians are very proud of their cuisine, and it should be noted that it is quite deserved. The main food products are meat, vegetables, dairy products (especially salty cheese), fish, fruits, lavash bread. In Armenian cuisine, great attention is paid to spices.

When the Armenians have nowhere to hurry, they dine for a very long time. The main reason for this tradition is table talk.

In Armenia, we definitely (along with barbecue) recommend tourists to try the following dishes:

- "Tolma" - lamb in a grape leaf;
- "Putuk" - lamb soup;
- "Khash" - beef soup;
- "Kyufta" - meat balls;
- "Basturma" - dried beef meat.

In addition, in Armenia they cook very tasty trout from Lake Svan - try it. In general, fish dishes in Armenia are all very tasty.

Very tasty fruits and berries are grown in Armenia - peaches, plums, apples, pears, cherry plums, cherries, cherries, cornelian cherry, grapes.

Traditional non-alcoholic drinks in Armenia are Tarragon, fruit juices, mineral water, milk drinks (kefir, yogurt).

Armenia makes excellent wines and cognacs. Try it and you will see for yourself.

Sights of Armenia

According to official data, there are now about 26,000 historical and architectural monuments in Armenia. Since 2005, a national program for the restoration of architectural and historical monuments has been implemented in Armenia. So, only in 2012 in Armenia, at the expense of the state budget, 9 monuments of the Middle Ages were restored (for example, the church of St. Hovhannes and the monastery of Kobayravank of the 12th century were restored). The Top 10 best Armenian attractions, in our opinion, may include the following:

Cities and resorts

The largest Armenian cities are Gyumri, Vanadzor, and, of course, Yerevan.

There are a lot of mineral springs in Armenia, and, as a result, balneological resorts. The most popular of them is Arzni, located 10 kilometers from Yerevan. Among other balneological and mountain climatic resorts of Armenia, Hankavan, Vanadzor, Arevik, Jermuk, Arevik, Tsakhkadzor, and Dilijan should be noted.

Since Armenia is a mountainous country, it is not surprising that it has several ski resorts. So, 40 kilometers from Yerevan is the ski resort of Tsaghkadzor, which has 12 kilometers of slopes for skiing. By the way, the skiing season in the ski resort of Tsaghkadzor lasts from mid-November to mid-April.

Souvenirs/Shopping

Tourists from Armenia usually bring folk art products, Armenian musical instruments (zurna, tar, shvi, dool, duduk), Armenian headdresses, wine horn, backgammon (for example, backgammon made of walnut), and, of course, Armenian cognac, as well as wine.

Office Hours

The history of Ancient Armenia has more than one thousand years, and the Armenians themselves lived long before the emergence of the nations of modern Europe. They existed even before the advent of the ancient peoples - the Romans and Hellenes.

First mentions

In the cuneiform writings of the Persian rulers, the name "Arminia" is found. Herodotus also mentions "armen" in his writings. According to one version, it was an Indo-European people who migrated from Europe in the 12th century. BC e.

Another hypothesis claims that the pra-Armenian tribal unions arose for the first time in the 4th-3rd millennium BC. It is they who, according to some scholars, are found in the poem "Iliad" by Homer under the name "Arims".

One of the names of Ancient Armenia - Hai - according to the proposals of scientists, comes from the name of the people "Hayas". This name is mentioned on Hittite clay tablets in the 2nd millennium BC. e., discovered during the archaeological excavations of Hattushashi - the ancient capital of the Hittites.

There is evidence that the Assyrians called this territory the country of rivers - Nairi. According to one hypothesis, it included 60 different peoples.

At the beginning of the ninth century BC e. a powerful kingdom of Urartu arose with the capital Van. It is believed that this is the oldest state on the territory of the Soviet Union. The civilization of Urartu, the successors of which were the Armenians, was quite developed. There was a written language based on the Babylonian-Assyrian cuneiform, agriculture, cattle breeding, and metallurgy.

Urartu was famous for the technology of erecting impregnable fortresses. On the territory of modern Yerevan there were two of them. The first - Erebuni, was built by one of the first kings Argishti. It was she who gave the name of the modern capital of Armenia. The second is Teishebaini, founded by King Rusa II (685-645 BC). This was the last ruler of Urartu. The state could not resist the powerful Assyria and perished forever from its weapons.

It was replaced by a new state. The first kings of Ancient Armenia - Yerwand and Tigran. The latter should not be confused with the famous ruler Tigranes the Great, who would later terrify the Roman Empire and create a great empire in the East. A new people appeared, formed as a result of the assimilation of the Indo-Europeans with the local ancient tribes of the Khayami and Urartu. From here came a new state - Ancient Armenia with its own culture and language.

Vassals of the Persians

At one time, Persia was a powerful state. All the peoples who lived in Asia Minor submitted to them. This fate befell the Armenian kingdom. The dominance of the Persians over them lasted more than two centuries (550-330 BC).

Greek historians about Armenia in the times of the Persians

Armenia is an ancient civilization. This is confirmed by many historians of antiquity, for example, Xenophon in the 5th century BC. e. As a participant in the events, the author of Anabasis described the retreat of 10,000 Greeks to the Black Sea through a country called Ancient Armenia. The Greeks saw the developed economic activity, as well as the life of the Armenians. Everywhere they found wheat, barley, fragrant wines, lard, various oils - pistachio, sesame, almond. The ancient Hellenes also saw here raisins, leguminous fruits. In addition to crop products, the Armenians bred domestic animals: goats, cows, pigs, chickens, horses. The data of Xenophon tell the descendants that the people living in this place were economically developed. The abundance of different products is striking. The Armenians not only produced food themselves, but also actively engaged in trade with neighboring lands. Of course, Xenophon did not say anything about this, but he listed some products that do not grow in this territory.

Strabo in the 1st century n. e. reports that ancient Armenia had very good pastures for horses. The country was not inferior to Media in this regard and supplied horses annually for the Persians. Strabo mentions the obligation of Armenian satraps, administrative governors during the reign of the Persians, of the obligation to deliver about two thousand young foals in honor of the famous festival of Mithra.

Armenian wars in antiquity

The historian Herodotus (V century BC) described the Armenian soldiers of that era, their weapons. The soldiers wore small shields, had short spears, swords, and darts. On their heads were wicker helmets, they were shod in high boots.

Conquest of Armenia by Alexander the Great

The era of Alexander the Great redrawn the entire map and the Mediterranean. All the lands of the vast Persian empire became part of a new political association under the rule of Macedonia.

After the death of Alexander the Great, the state disintegrates. In the east, the Seleucid state is formed. The once unified territory of a single people was divided into three separate regions as part of a new country: Great Armenia, located on the Ararat plain, Sophena - between the Euphrates and the upper reaches of the Tigris, and Lesser Armenia - between the Euphrates and the upper reaches of Lykos.

The history of ancient Armenia, although it speaks of constant dependence on other states, however, shows that it concerned only foreign policy issues, which had a beneficial effect on the development of the future state. It was a kind of prototype of an autonomous republic in the composition of successive empires.

They were often called basileus, i.e. kings. They maintained only a formal dependence, sending tribute and troops to the center in wartime. Neither the Persians nor the Hellenistic state of the Seleucids made any attempts to penetrate into the internal structure of the Armenians. If the former ruled almost all of their remote territories in this way, then the successors of the Greeks always changed the internal way of the conquered peoples, imposing on them “democratic values” and a special order.

The collapse of the Seleucid state, the unification of Armenia

After the defeat of the Seleucids by Rome, the Armenians gained temporary independence. Rome was not yet ready to start new conquests of peoples after the war with the Hellenes. This was used by the once united people. Attempts began to restore a single state, which was called "Ancient Armenia".

The ruler of Greater Armenia Artashes declared himself an independent king Artashes I. He united all the lands that spoke the same language, including Lesser Armenia. The last region of Sophene became part of the new state later, after 70 years, under the famous ruler Tigran the Great.

The final formation of the Armenian nationality

It is believed that under the new Artashesid dynasty, a great historical event took place - the formation of the Armenian nationality with its own language and culture. They were greatly influenced by their proximity to developed Hellenistic peoples. The minting of their own coins with Greek inscriptions spoke of the strong influence of neighbors on culture and trade.

Artashat - the capital of the ancient state of Greater Armenia

During the reign of the Artashesid dynasty, the first large cities appeared. Among them is the city of Artashat, which became the first capital of the new state. Translated from Greek, it meant "the joy of Artaxias."

The new capital had an advantageous geographical position in that era. It was located on the main route to the ports of the Black Sea. The time of the appearance of the city coincided with the establishment of overland trade relations between Asia and India and China. Artashat began to acquire the status of a major trade and political center. Plutarch highly appreciated the role of this city. He gave it the status of "Armenian Carthage", which, translated into modern language, meant a city that unites all nearby lands. All the Mediterranean powers knew about the beauty and luxury of Artashat.

Rise of the Armenian Kingdom

The history of Armenia from ancient times contains bright moments of the power of this state. The golden age falls on the reign of Tigran the Great (95-55) - the grandson of the founder of the famous dynasty Artashes I. Tigranakert became the capital of the state. This city became one of the leading centers of science, literature and art throughout the ancient world. The best Greek actors performed in the local theater, famous scientists and historians were frequent guests of Tigran the Great. One of them is the philosopher Metrodorus, who was an ardent opponent of the growing Roman Empire.

Armenia became part of the Hellenistic world. The Greek language penetrated the aristocratic elite.

Armenia is a unique part of the Hellenistic culture

Armenia in the 1st century BC e. - developed advanced state of the world. She took all the best that was in the world - culture, science, art. Tigran the Great developed theaters and schools. Armenia was not only the cultural center of Hellenism, but also an economically strong state. Trade, industry, crafts grew. A distinctive feature of the state was that it did not take the system of slavery, which was used by the Greeks and Romans. All lands were cultivated by peasant communities, whose members were free.

The Armenia of Tigran the Great spread over vast territories. This was an empire that covered a huge part from the Caspian to the Mediterranean Seas. Many peoples and states became its vassals: in the north - Tsibania, Iberia, in the southeast - Parthia and Arab tribes.

Conquest by Rome, end of the Armenian Empire

The rise of Armenia coincided with the rise of another eastern state on the territory of the former USSR - Pontus, headed by Mithridates. After long wars with Rome, Pontus also lost its independence. Armenia was in good neighborly relations with Mithridates. After his defeat, she was left alone with mighty Rome.

After long wars, the unified Armenian Empire in 69-66. BC e. broke up. Under the rule of Tigranes, only that which was declared a "friend and ally" of Rome remained. So called all the conquered states. In fact, the country has become another province.

After entering the ancient stage of statehood begins. The country fell apart, its lands were appropriated by other states, and the local population was constantly in conflict with each other.

Armenian alphabet

In ancient times, the Armenians used writing based on the Babylonian-Assyrian cuneiform. During the heyday of Armenia, during the time of Tigran the Great, the country completely switched to the Greek language in business. On the coins, archaeologists find Greek writing.

Created by Mesrop Mashtots relatively late - in 405. It originally consisted of 36 letters: 7 vowels and 29 consonants.

The main 4 graphic forms of Armenian writing - yerkatagir, bolorgir, shkhagir and notrgir - developed only in the Middle Ages.