Armavir Province

Description

Armavir , is a province (marz) in the western part of Armenia. Its capital is Armavir, and the largest city is Vagharshapat. It is located in the Ararat valley, between Mount Ararat and Mount Aragats, and shares a 45-mile border with Turkey to the south and west.

The province is home to the spiritual centre of the Armenian nation; the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians.

The province is named after the ancient city of Armavir founded in 331 BC. The province is also the site of the decisive Battle of Sardarabad in 1918 that resulted in the foundation of the Republic of Armenia. The battle is seen as a crucial historical event not only by stopping the Turkish advance into the rest of Armenia but also preventing the complete destruction of the Armenian nation.

The Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant is also located in Amravir Province near the town of Metsamor.

The Yerevan Zvartnots International Airport is located near the village of Parakar in Armavir Province (12 km (7 mi) west of Yerevan).

Etymology

Part of a series on Armenia
Հայաստան Culture

Art
Cinema
Music
Media
Sport
Vardavar

History Demographics Administrative divisions

Aragatsotn
Ararat
Armavir
Gegharkunik
Kotayk
Lori
Shirak
Syunik
Tavush
Vayots Dzor

Yerevan (city with special status)

Armenia portal

The province is named after the ancient city of Armavir, one of the 13 historic capitals of Armenia. According to Movses Khorenatsi, ancient Armavir was built by Aramayis; the grandson of Hayk, who moved from Taron to the Ararat plain.

Geography

Armavir has an area of 1,242 km2 (4.2% of total area of Armenia) making it the smallest province of the country in terms of the total area. It is bordered by the Turkish provinces of Kars from the wst and Iğdır from the south, with a length of 130.5 km bordrerline, where Aras River separates Armenia from Turkey. Domestically, it is bordered by Aragatsotn Province from the north, Ararat Province from the east and the capital Yerevan from the northeast.

Historically, the current territory of the province mainly occupies the canton of Aragatsotn, along with small parts of Arsharunik and Masyatsotn cantons of the Ayrarat province of Ancient Armenia.

The province is entirely located at the heart of the Ararat plain, mainly consisted of agricultural lands.

Metsamor river (also known as Sevjur river) is the only river that originates from the province. The small lake of Ayger located near the Aknalich village, is among the few water surfaces of the province.

History

The territory of ancient Armavir was inhabited since the 5th millennium BC. Many sites including the Metsamor Castle, Shresh hill and Mokhrablur hill date back to the neolithic period. The ancient Urartian settlement of Argishtikhinili was founded in 776 BC by king Argishti I. One of the oldest written records about the region was found in the inscriptions left by the Urartian king Rusa II (685–645 BC). It is believed that the town of Vagharshapat was founded by king Rusa II in 685 BC as Kuarlini (Կուարլինի).

According to Movses Khorenatsi, the territories of modern-day Armavir Province mainly occupy the central part of the historic Ayrarat province at the centre of the Armenian Highland. It contains parts of the Aragatsotn canton along with small parts of the Arsharunik and Masyatsotn. The territory was among the most important regions of ancient Armenia since the Urartu period. Its strategic importance had significantly grown with the establishment of the Kingdom of Armenia in 331 BC by the Orontid Dynasty.

3 of the historic capital of Armenia are located in modern-day Armavir. The ancient city of Armavir became the capital in 331 BC until 210 BC. It was replaced by the nearby city of Yervandashat which remained the capital of the kingdom until 176 BC, under the reign of the Artaxiad dynasty. Between 120 and 330 AD, the capital of the kingdom was the city of Vagharshapat under the Arsacid dynasty.

After the Christianization of Armenia in 301, Vagharshapat became the spiritual centre of the Armenians worldwide. In 405, Mesrop Mashtots introduced the newly created Armenian alphabet to the Armenians in Vagharshapat. After the fall of the Armenian Kingdom in 428, the region became part of the Sasanian Empire of Persia until the Arab conquest of Armenia in the mid-7th century.

By the end of the 9th century, the region became part of the newly established Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia. Between the 11th and 15th centuries, the region suffered from the Seljuk, Mongol, Ag Qoyunlu and Kara Koyunlu invasions, respectively. However, the town of Vagharshapat restored its importance in 1441 when the seat of the Armenian Catholicosate was transferred from the Cilician city of Sis back to Etchmiadzin.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the territory of modern-day Armavir became part of the Erivan Beglarbegi within the Safavid Persia. During the first half of the 18th century, the territory became part of the Erivan Khanate under the rule of the Afsharid dynasty and later under the Qajar dynasty of Persia. It remained under the Persian rule until 1827-1828, when Eastern Armenia was ceded by the Russian Empire as a result of the Russo-Persian War of 1826–28 and the signing of the Treaty of Turkmenchay.

After the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917, the Ottoman Army intended to crush Armenia and seize the Russian Transcaucasia and the oil wells of Baku. In May 1918, the Ottoman forces attacked Eastern Armenia in 3 fronts. At the northern front, the Ottomans reached Karakilisa (nowadays Vanadzor) on May 20 almost without resistance. The 2nd front was through the town of Aparan while the 3rd and largest front was through the town of Sardarabad (nowadays Araks) in the Armavir region. On May 21, the detachment of Zihni Bey defeated an Armenian unit composed of 600 infantry and 250 cavalry, and then took over Sardarabad. Afterwards, the Ottoman forces advanced towards the village of Yeghegnut. The Armenian offensive led by Daniel Bek-Pirumian and Movses Silikyan was launched in 22 May. As a result of the decisive Armenian victories over the Turks on the 3 fronts of Sardarabad, Abaran, and Gharakilisa, the Armavir region became part of the independent Armenia by the end of May 1918.

After 2 years of brief independence, Armenia became part of the Soviet Union in December 1920. From 1930 until 1995, modern-day Armavir was divided into 3 raions within the Armenian SSR: Baghramyan raion, Hoktemberyan raion, and Etchmiadzin raion. With the territorial administration reform of 1995, the 3 raions were merged to form the Armavir Province.

Culture

Armavir is among the richest cultural centres of the Republic of Armenia. The urban settlements of the province are home to cultural palaces as well as many public libraries. However, during the Soviet period, there were 98 public libraries in Armavir with only 21 of them are still functioning.

The town of Vagharshapat is home to a large number of museums including the Vagharshapat ethnographic museum, Khoren Ter-Harutyunyan museum and art gallery, Mher Abeghian museum and art gallery, and Hovhannes Hovhannisyan house-museum. The Etchmiadzin complex has a number of museums and libraries:

Catholicosal Museum,
Etchmiadzin Cathedral Museum,
Khrimian Museum,
Alex and Marie Manoogian Treasury House,
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Manuscript Depository,
Printing house and Bookstore of the Mother See.

The village of Musaler is home to the annual celebration of the Musa Dagh resistance, when thousands of Armenians from all over the world arrive in the village each year during the month of September, to celebrate the event around the Musa Dagh memorial.

Fortresses and archaeological sites

Metsamor archaeological site of Taronik, 5th millennium BC,
Mokhrablur settlement in Griboyedov, 2nd millennium BC,
Argishtikhinili ancient city, 8th century BC,
Shenik, 5th to rd centuries BC.
Armavir ancient city, founded in 331 BC.

Churches and monasteries

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and Etchmiadzin Cathedral, founded in 303,
Saint Hripsime Church, opened in 618,
Saint Gayane Church, opened in 630,
Zvartnots Cathedral, opened in 652,
Targmanchats monastery of Aygeshat, 6th-7th centuries,
Shoghakat Church, opened in 1694,
Holy Mother of God Cathedral, opened in 1767.
Surp Harutyun Church of Parakar, opened in 1855.
Holy Mother of God Church in Sardarapat, opened in 1882.
Holy Mother of God Church in Bambakashat, opened in 1901

Transportation

The Zvartnots International Airport of Yerevan is located within the territorial boundaries of Armavir Province.

The province is connected with Yerevan and southern Armenia through the M-5 Motorway, while the M-3 Motorway connects Armavir with northern Armenia.

The town of Armavir was originally founded as a railway station connecting Yerevan with Gyumri and northern Armenia. The station was renovated during the 1st decade of the 21st century. In November 2009, the station was provided with an electric locomotive that connects Armavir with the Aragatsavan station and the northwestern Armenia.

Communities

Armavir Province was formed following the resolution that regulates the Administrative-territorial divisions of the Republic of Armenia, passed on September 4, 1995

The province consists of the following 97 administrative communities (hamaynkner), of which 3 are urban and 94 are rural.

Urban communities

Image City
(town) Province Founded Land area
(km2) Population
(2011 census) Population
(2016 estimate) Armavir Armavir 1931 6 29,319 28,900 Metsamor Armavir 1969 4 9,191 9,000 Vagharshapat
(Etchmiadzin) Armavir 685 BC 13 46,540 46,700